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Travel

09.22.08 /
AIDS Run & Walk 2008!
Travel, Uncategorized | Permalink | 7 Comments
On Saturday, Kristy and I participated, with many of her coworkers at LAFMC, in the eighth annual AIDS Run & Walk 5K. This event, in addition to being a successful fundraiser for LAF’s AIDS Project, which helps those who suffer from both the disease and poverty, was also my first-ever race. Although I was not able to raise as much money as Kristy did with her brilliant yarn raffle, I scraped together more than I expected to thanks to my coworkers.

The morning of the race was beautiful–sunny and in the mid 70s. We all met up at Grant Park a little after 9:00 to get ready, meeting with Kristy’s team members. Many of them, including Kristy, had elected to walk the course, and Kristy even brought the girls (Sybil even in a velour track suit) to join in the walk. All too soon it was time for the runners, who got a 5 minute head start, to take the starting line. Before I knew what had happened, I was on my mark, then set, and then listening for the word “go” as something other than a spectator.

Thanks to the clever use of a timing RFID chip on my shoe, I didn’t have to worry about jockeying for position–my crossing of the start and then finish lines was silently recorded. High tech! Having ditched my wallet and keys with Kristy, and using her borrowed iPod shuffle, I was travelling very light around the course. We jogged first south along Lake Shore Drive, then under and around to the Museum Campus, then along the lake shore itself next to the yachts at anchor in the harbor. As I breezed along to the first mile, I found myself regretting that the race was already 1/3 over and wishing it were longer.

At mile two, I was still feeling pretty good, and when Boris’ Pink came on, I got overconfident (and maybe carried away by the fast music) and really started to haul ass. By around 2 1/4mi, I was brought back to reality by a nasty cramp just below my right lung. I stopped fretting about the shortness of the race and began wishing that it would be over soon.

I had to stop once to catch my breath (and maybe cough up a little bile, shh) after the cramp reduced my lung capacity, but other than that I ran the whole race and finished the race running, which was my only goal for the race and which I am so proud of. As I made the final turn and could see the finish line ahead, my vision narrowed to the inflatable blue plastic novelty arch and, within it, the vertical plane that meant I could stop running. I gasped a last gulp of air and ran flat out with everything that was left in my legs. So intent was I on passing the line and falling down on the first patch of grass I could find that I didn’t even see my time as I passed. I lay on my back, looking up at the sky through the yellowing leaves, trying to absorb what had just happened.

After a while, I got back up, drank some water, and retraced the course to meet Kristy and the dogs. They were taking a break in the shade at the mileandahalf marker when I found them. We started walking again after a little while, but Ruby suffered some sort of injury to her paw and we decided to cut the walk short for her sake. Later on, after returning the weiners home, we met up with some of Kristy’s coworkers for a much-needed pizza lunch.

And what ever became of my time? Well fortunately, although I wasn’t clever enough to look up at the clock, it was recorded for me by my chip. A quick email exchange with the organizers led me here, where I learned that I had missed a registration step that would have associated my number with my name. No worries, I can still search for my number, pictured above…

I finished the 3.2mi race in an astonishing (to me) time of 23:28. Not only did that place me within 6 minutes of the race winner (a position I was realistic enough to never aspire to), but it also ranked me 97th out of 1,143 finishers, and 18th of 90 in the fairly competitive 25-29M group. I am so proud!

I’m not sure yet when my next race will be, but I’m sure it will be soon. The cramp was pretty agonizing, but I suppose added a great deal of character to the experience. I’ll never forget the run. And I’m so grateful to Kristy for setting me up with her team, because otherwise this probably would have been on my to-do list until after it was too late to register. Thank you Kissy!

Before going, I’ll leave you with a playlist to run your first 5k to:
1. (Prerace) Battles – Atlas
2. Asobi Seksu – Thursday
3. Radiohead – Weird Fishes / Arpeggi
4. Ladytron – Destroy Everything You Touch
5. Boris – Pink (be careful with this one, pace yourself)
6. Asobi Seksu – New Years
7. Go! Team - Junior Kickstart
8. Asobi Seksu – Goodbye
9. M83 – Unrecorded
10. Radiohead – Reckoner
11. Ladytron – High Rise
Happy running
10.15.06 /
I Drunk I’m Think; or, Osaka the Hard Way
Japan, Personal, Travel | Permalink | 2 Comments

When last I wrote an update, we had spent perhaps our most schizophrenic day in Japan: the gloom of the a-bomb museum and the beauty of Miyajima could not have been more opposite.

Hiroshima was the last officially planned activity of the trip; now, with about a week left for Kristy and I and five days for the rest of the party, we were checking out of Nagoya with no plans. Kristy, Lawrence, Zach, and I intended to fill part of this time with a side trip to Osaka, Japan’s second-largest city, which was on the way home and which was missing from our itinerary. Doing so, we would push off our return to Tokyo by one day and help alleviate a rooming crisis (we weren’t able to get the correct number of rooms for check-in for the first few days). (more…)
10.11.06 /
Hiroshima
Japan, Personal, Travel | Permalink | 3 Comments

As I get lazier about posting updates, I have to try and cast my mind back farther and farther for the details. So before it all slips away, I will try to at least bring the story up to last Thursday, when we visited Hiroshima.

We set out for Hiroshima via shinkansen and met our guide with little incident. It seems weird to be able to summarize such a technological marvel in that way! Anyways, our guide was a biologist, in his mid 50s. He was a really nice guy; a different style of guide than our last, he was much less organized but a little more flexible as a consequence. For example, he accomodated our request to visit the a-bomb museum first, although a consultation of the local tide tables might have suggested a different course of action. A quick note on transportation–unlike any of the other cities we’ve spent time in, public transit was by streetcar, a mode of transportation I’d never experienced before. (more…)
10.10.06 /
Hello!
Japan, Personal, Travel | Permalink | 1 Comment

I’m still alive and well in Japan… just struggling to keep up with blog updates.

Towards the end of a long trip like this, it’s hard to keep your energy up without sacrificing precious days, so we’ve been starting later and ending earlier, and that takes away the margins of the days that I used to use to post! Not only that, but also I left my laptop’s power supply in a hotel in Nagoya, and so Kristy and I have to share hers until we get back to the states (I couldn’t even find another in Akihabara!)

But we are both well and having fun, and later today (most of our party, save for us, is flying out) I may have more time to post an update–not just for the sake of my readers, but so I can remember the past few days, which have been quite full.
10.06.06 /
Nagoya, Kyoto
Japan, Personal, Travel | Permalink | 4 Comments

Although it won’t be posted until later tonight, I’m writing this entry while riding the bullet train to Osaka.

How’s that for a lead-in?

It’s been a while since I posted because we have been so incredibly busy or incredibly tired (and because it wasn’t until today that I hit on the idea of typing a post while on the train).

When I last was able to update, we were preparing for our trip to Nagoya, which was our base of operations away from Tokyo. We are now leaving Nagoya, Kristy, Lawrence, Zach, and I, for Osaka, which is a side trip we’re taking to alleviate crowding at the New Sanno in Tokyo, where we’ll return tomorrow night.

We had picked up our JR passes the day of my last entry, but at the time we had little idea how much we’d come to rely on them! We get, for one week, unlimited rides on any JR train or bus except for the super-express Nozomi line. So we have travelled basically everywhere by bullet train, which is an extravagance that is difficult to imagine.

We picked up our first shinkansen at Shinagawa station, where Lawrence, Zach and I had picked up passes the day before. It was a tense trip, and we nearly missed the train because the subway route had taken precious time. The entire ride from Tokyo to Nagoya took a mere two hours thanks to the bullet train, whose speed is just phenomenal (last night, on the way from Hiroshima to a transfer at Shin-Osaka, the scrolly thing above the door announced that we had reached a cruising speed of 285 km/hr). The train is very like an airliner, but with more legroom, and actually tall enough for me to stand up without hitting my head. It is by far my favorite way to travel, smooth enough to keep a drink on a tray even at top speed.

We arrived at Nagoya and checked our luggage at the hotel, the Nagoya Mariott (since we had arrived at 9am, our rooms were not yet ready). We attempted to get some help from the concierge in obtaining tickets to a baseball game that night at the Nagoya Dome, and ended up being helped by the manager! He called to determine availability, and then pointed us (gulp!) at a nearby store (a 7-11 type place called Sankus). While some background drama was brewing in re: a party member’s fear of heights (our hotel rooms were on the 39th, 40th, and 41st floors), Kristy and I bravely ventured out to the store and obtained the tickets, which were relatively reasonable! We stammered through the transaction gracefully enough and emerged with six seats to watch the Chunichi Dragons play the Hiroshima Carp.

When we came back, we decided to get lunch while waiting for our rooms; due to the aforementioned height phobia, the party split up, and Kristy, Lawrence, Zach, and I (hereafter TKLZ) ate at a relatively nice food court restaurant on the 13th floor, where we had the second best ramen we’d eaten and complemented it with a pitcher of Asahi. Mmm!

The check-in was accomplished with a minimum of drama, and we just sort of crashed for a few hours before the game (although Kristy’s mom did have a humorous run-in with the fixtures–check Kristyland for details). We grabbed some snacks from Sankus, some good, some not so good. Eventually the time came to head to the stadium, but we were unable to get a hold of Kristy’s mom and stepdad, so we were left to navigate Nagoya by ourselves. Fortunately, JR line train (free to us, remember) stopped about three blocks from the stadium at Ozone (o-zoh-ne). We walked the remaining distance, pausing only long enough to pick up some Dragons hats (they were the home team) and found our seats with the help of an usher. Eventually the rest of our party caught up, which was a good thing because…

The game was unbelievable. It was so much more fun that American baseball that I think the latter has been ruined for me completely. From before the first pitch until long after the final out (while they awarded the game MVP for example) the crowd was raucous and closely following the game. In addition to the more-attentive fans, each team, home and away, had a dedicated cheering section; not content to rely on cheerleaders (who were there) for encouragement, the Carp had even sent someone to direct their fans, both in coordinated noisemaking (pounding, cheering, singing) and synchronized sit-down-stand-up drills. Although we saw very good defense played, it seemed to me that the focus of the game was mostly on offense, because the fan of whichever team was batting made as much noise as they possibly could for the duration of that part of the inning.

It turned out to be a blowout (my favorite kind of game) which the Dragons won 8-0. Apparently they are quite good this year, leading the Hanshin Tigers by 3 games in their divisional race. It was a surreal time–a series of memorable firsts (first turf game, first dome game, first Japanese game).

I actually wrote my last post, if memory serves, the night of the Dragons game, but needed to get some sleep and couldn’t finish.

The next day we toured Kyoto in the tow of a local guide who was extremely well prepared. It was absolutely beautiful. Kyoto boasts that it has 1700 shrines and temples, and it feels like we probably saw the 200 or 300 best as we walked all around a hilly area above the town proper. This story will best be told by my pictures, once I get around to uploading them, but a few highlights for me were the shrine high above a beautiful view of Kyoto, the natural spring below with three streams (long life, wealth, wisdom) from which you must only drink two, and the small soba house where we ate a delicious, if cramped meal. We were also able to stop in at the Textile Center there, where I found a nice tie and some uikiyo-e that seemed to have been printed on fine fabric. After the fabric center, we bid our guide farewell (we have been sending them off with books about our home states as omiyagi to thank them for their assitance) and settled into the first real Japanese bar we’ve been to. The Sapporo flew freely and we munched on plates and plates of yakitori. The TKLZ crew rode home separately (the others were footsore and left the bar early) so that we could finish our drinks, and then Kristy and I crashed. We had been walking almost nonstop since 9am!

I was going to include Hiroshima and Osaka in this post, but I think instead I’ll just push it out there and write about them later. Sayonara!
10.03.06 /
Rohk-yo banira, onegai shimas?
Japan, Personal, Travel | Permalink | 3 Comments

Unfortunately, it’s been a couple of days since I had time to post. That means this is going to be a long one, so pull up a chair…

When last I posted, I’d been wandering Roppongi on Saturday night.

On Sunday morning, we met up with Sachuko, a Tokyo native that Larry (Kristy’s stepdad) had contacted about acting as a guide. Parenthetical–apparently this is such a common thing that websites exist to match visiting tourists with people willing to act as guides for free in exchange for various admissions, meals, etc along the way; wonder if there’s a demand for that sort of thing in Chicago? Anyways. We had breakfast at a large brunch in the hotel, which was mostly western food. There was some Japanese, and some sushi even, but it looked suspect and I fortunately waited a little longer for my first Japanese sushi. More on that later…

After the brunch, we went by subway to Harajuku to see cosplayers, who apparently hang out there en masse certain days. Although it was raining, a few were there, and some, who had come with a massive stuffed frog, agreed to pose with Piggy and with Mike the Dog, who we’ve brought along to build a travelogue with. These in particular were part of the “loligoth” subculture, so they gave their best efforts to look grim, but dissolved in giggles at the idea of a bunch of gaijin hauling stuffed pigs and the like around Tokyo with them.

Very near this spot is the Meiji Shrine, a Shinto site. We visited there next, admiring its torii gate, sake barrels, and exquisite architecture. There was a traditional wedding in progress there, which was quite fascinating. I also paid ¥ 500 for a wooden votive to place on a tree for the monks to pray over (in the link, see “Prayers Left by Visitors”). The mist and rain, while somewhat annoying from a personal standpoint, added greatly to the atmosphere. It was most tranquil.

We had originally planned to visit the Asakusa temple complex next, with Sachuko in tow (or, rather, in the lead) but were stymied because of the weather; with the clouds, it would become too dark to shoot much earlier in the day–in fact, most of my shots from the shrine were 3rd or 4th tries, after messing with the metering, ISO, etc. I am really learning the basics of digital photography on this trip! So instead of going to the Buddhist temple, we went to a temple of commerce–Shibuya! I’m not sure if the sobriquet “Times Square of Tokyo” is better applied elsewhere (perhaps Ginza or Shinjuku?) but Shibuya at Shibuya Station certainly reminded me of Broadway and 42nd. Our mission there was to obtain for Kristy a new pair of contacts, her backup pair having annihilated her primary pair in the strangest redundancy failure I’ve ever encountered. Sachuko earned Kristy’s eternal gratitude by translating for her through a) the failure of her prescription (apparently documents that are faxed, forwarded to an email subsystem, forwarded to gmail, then printed at a hotel are not considered legal); b) the ensuing eye exam; and c) the payment, etc required to obtain said contacts.

After all that, we were tired and hungry. Sachuko pointed us to an izakaya near our hotel (actually at Gaien Nishi Dori and Roppongi Dori, argh) where she said that the nighclub portion of Kill Bill had been filmed. As Kristy says in her post on the evening, we had to concentrate at first to find the resemblance. But due to vagaries of the photographic process, we really see a strong likeness in the pictures we took. We are such tourists! Pictures in the hotel, in the train, in the restaurant, walking down the street… as of this evening (more on the intervening time is coming) I have taken over 2GB of photos and short clips. In any case, the food at the izakaya was quite good, and we parted amiably from Sachuko with plans to meet again next week. We trudged down the Gaien Nishi Dori to our hotel. It was funny to watch other people’s reactions to some of the things I had spotted the night before, for example the Lamborghini dealership, which was a confounding thing to encounter in a random storefront at midnight. As a final aside on this topic, and a final word on the night, which ended, for us, after returning to the hotel, it should be noted that we espied a Beard Papa’s–yes, that Beard Papa’s–in Shibuya near the station. We didn’t have time to stop then, because a bus was coming, but we did eventually get our cream puffs.

I didn’t have any late-night adventures Sunday night, because I needed my rest–we were getting up early the next morning to visit the Tsukiji fish market in time to see tuna auctioned off. This was entirely fascinating, as was the trip to the actual location of the auction–constantly dodging forklifts full of fish and small trucks as we were, we probably observed the area more carefully than any thus far! The auctioneers were quite animated, which was interesting inasmuch as the Nihon-jin we’ve encountered so far have been quite reserved. I have some video clips taken with my camera that are destined for my gallery eventually. We actually arrived just for the tail end of the auction (har har) and afterwards headed out in search of a sushi breakfast, probably the freshest in the world. We found our destination in a small storefront-only sushi restaurant with a bar in the front long enough to seat 6 and with 7 chairs to put in front of it. After all of the tuna we’d seen being auctioned, I had eyes only for the maguro sashimi. It was served with by far the best miso I’ve ever had (or probably will have) and was, itself, the best fish I’ve tasted. All consumed under an awning, in the grey dawn light of 6:30 or 7:00am, accompanied by the sounds, everywhere, of morning rain falling, dripping, and running. A sublime moment.

After Tsukiji, we had some business to transact. Kristy’s stepsister Cassie headed back to the hotel for some class-related work, and Kristy also had homework. We also needed to pick up our JR (Japan Railway) passes in time for our move to Nagoya (more on that later). We explored Tokyo Station for some time in pursuit of this goal, and were eventually triumphant. Kristy and I also were able to finally satisfy our Beard Papa’s craving at a kiosk we found inside Tokyo Station. This time we were able to stammer out an order in Japanese before enjoying the call-and-response routine. “Rohk-yo banira, onegai shimas?” This caused us to split away from Kristy’s mom and stepdad, and so we had to find our way home on the subway ourselves. Thanks to our map-reading skills and the fact that the trip could be accomplished with a single transfer, this really wasn’t as hard as it sounds. The english-language signage in the subway is quite extensive.

On our way back into the hotel, we encountered Kristy’s stepbrother Lawrence and his friend Zac([hk])? (a little regular expression humor there) who were about to go out for ramen to kill time before picking up their rail passes. We walked over most of Azubu looking for a ramen place they’d allegedly seen but couldn’t find. Although this was slightly tiring, we also found a really interesting shopping area across the Meiji Dori which sought to combine an alleyway with a pedestrian mall with a Chinatown sort of decorative scheme. Very cool place, and full of many local shops (¥ 100 stores, dry cleaners, florists) but no ramen. After a long consultation, we headed back to Hiro-o where we knew there were many restaurants. We finally settled on one and had approximately the best ramen that man has yet conceived. Mine was some sort of pork ramen and had an outstanding savory broth. We have eaten so well here–and quite cheaply so far. In our time to date, I have not even spent the initial “landing money” ¥ 30,000 (about $300 USD) I withdrew from the Chase headquarters in Chicago.

After lunch, Kristy needed time to do her homework, and Lawrence and Zack needed someone to ride with him to get his rail pass. Once they offered to pay my bus fare to Shinagawa station, where they intended to make the exchange, I did the math and decided that I was pretty interested in seeing Shinagawa. The bus ride took me through several areas I hadn’t seen before, which was good for me and provided a few photo opportunites, which was good for me; and it was good for them that I had come because, unlike in Tokyo Station, there was no english-language signage to explain the process, indicate which forms should be filled, etc. The rail passes we got are sweet–available only to foreigners, they provide, for a cool ¥ 38.000, unlimited rides on all JR trains for a week. We struggled, briefly, to find a return bus after picking up the passes, but were ultimately successful.

After spotting what looked like a gyoza joint during our lengthy ramen search earlier, I had developed quite a taste for the little buggers. After returning from the station, we persuaded Kristy to abandon her studies to join us for some gyoza and some biru (a loan word from English that is not hard to translate). We had an excellent dinner! Of course, after dinner Kristy had to get back to work, but the three of us, Lawrence, Zack, and I, set out in the mist and cold rain to see Tokyo Tower, which they had visited but I had only glimpsed. It was the kind of night that would be excellent to watch from inside, but I was determined not to waste any time indoors, despite the weather. The walk, which took us through slightly more varied terrain than had most of our others, took about an hour or so each way. We travelled through some diplomatic areas (Embassy of Australia, represent) and some neighborhood alleyways (even in the most remote of alleys in Tokyo, you are never more than 100ft from a brightly-glowing vending machine) and eventually, on the way home, to a tiny but jam-packed “recycle book” store. I gave its inventory at most a cursory inspection, being footsore and also illiterate in Kanji, but it was a neat little place.

Upon our return home, we began making our plans for the next day, which I will tell you about soon. But not today, because it’s already midnight local, and the aforementioned plans brought us our wake-up call at 4am. Good night, everyone! More pictures and posts will be coming soon.
10.03.06 /
More posts are coming!
Japan, Personal, Travel, Uncategorized | Permalink | Comment?

Sorry for the delay in posting–I’ve been so busy gadding about Honshu that I haven’t had time to catch up. But I’m about to start working on one now, before a) I start forgetting things and b) I get too daunted and give up.
09.30.06 /
Meiji-dori wa, doko dess-ka?
Japan, Personal, Travel, Uncategorized | Permalink | 4 Comments

Had myself a real adventure last night!

But first things first. Yesterday, we travelled to the Air Force base in Yokota to shop at the exchange there, where Kristy got a very nice digital camera and a general electronics-buying spree was indulged in by all parties. All parties except yours truly, that is–not only was it not in my budget for this trip, but also Kristy keeps me well enough supplied (birthdays, xmas) that I didn’t have any glaring gadget needs. It was an interesting jolt of american-ness in the middle of Japan. We also had dinner at the officer’s club there, which was fun.

We unloaded our new acquisitions when we got home, and Kristy decided to get to bed early. But I wasn’t tired yet, and also felt like I’d had an insufficiently Japanese day. After failing to meet up with her step-siblings, I felt like I was in danger of floating around the hotel room, updating my gallery, for the rest of the night. So instead, I struck out on my own, unwisely failing to bring anything but my passport, cell phone, and camera.

I walked up Gaien Nishi Dori to Roppongi Dori. This is pretty much party central, lots of fancy clubs. It’s also the site of the Shuto Expressway, which is completely mindblowing to see. It’s a two-level elevated freeway, the bottom level of which is at least 30 feet high, which runs along Roppongi-Dori for quite some ways. I walked along Roppongi through Roppongi Hills in the direction of Chiyoda-ku (the Imperial Palace) for an hour or so, and then tried to take a shortcut home. This is an epic mistake caused by “grid thinking.” In Chicago, since the streets are arranged in a grid, it is easy to return home without walking back the way you came because you can simply make the other two sides of a parallelogram. I tried this same idea, turning right on a street called Sotobori Dori, but failed miserably–lousy obtuse angles! I found myself at Hibiya Dori, a name that I recognized from my accursed Pimsleur tapes (I must have said “Hibiya Dori koko-dess” a million times) and started feeling a little panicky–I was near the city center and had been heading the wrong way for almost 20 minutes! Fortunately, I wasn’t truly “lost”–I just had to undo the shortcut I had attempted to take. In the end, it took me nearly an hour to walk home. I was very glad of the walking shoes I had bought–I have only the mildest of blisters after what was probably a good 10 miles of walking. I will post some of the excellent photos I took later today.
09.29.06 /
Nihon des!
Japan, Personal, Travel | Permalink | Comment?

Ohayo gozaymas! I’m writing this after waking up on my first morning in Tokyo!

It’s Saturday here now, which is confusing for me because the last time that I woke up it was Thursday morning. But on Thursday, Kristy and I flew from O’hare to Narita via Minneapolis for the start of our 2.5 week Japanese vacation with her family.

The flight was about 13 hours of airtime and was made almost completely bearable by the fact that we had obtained business-class upgrades, which entitled us to sit on the upper deck of our massive 747 on the MSP-NRT leg of the flight and also to be waited on hand and foot–we had free drinks (champagne, Glenlivet, wine with dinner 1) and excellent food, personal video screens that I used to monitor the progress of the flight, and lots of space to stretch out for some shut-eye (I got about 5 hours on the plane).

A word about the flight–as I’d figured, we followed one of the great circle routes; but I had no idea how far north that would take us! We actually went north so steeply that we only barely grazed Saskatchewan and actually spent most of our North American flight time over the Northwest Territories and the Yukon, before flying over Alaska the long way. We were far above the Arctic Circle–we actually passed through Prudhoe Bay airspace. On the way back down, we apparently spent a lot of time over Russian airspace, which was interesting, or would have been had I not fallen asleep for most of it. We were up to high to see much of anything out the windows except for immediately following takeoff and the hour and a half or so preceding arrival.

The approach was very interesting–we flew over some mountains (think Hokkaido) and then kame in over northern Honshu, which seemed somewhat rural. Rural here is quite different from rural in the United States; the farmland is much more closely subdivided. This, coupled with the relatively large buildings scattered even throughout the countryside, and large power lines running everywhere, does tend to give it a certain Godzilla-setting feel; I had thought that the sets for that were just cheap, but they do bear a certain resemblance to the feeling of approaching by air!

We disembarked at Narita, which is actually about 45 minutes from Tokyo proper but is the major airport serving the capital. Clearing passport control and customs were much less of a hassle than I’d feared, and we got our luggage right away. Someone in line in front of us gave themselves a scare by leaving her passport on the counter, which gave me an opportunity to try forming a new Japanese sentence: “Anata-no pasopoto desu-ka?” although I have, as a rule, been too shy to test my limited knowledge beyond the occasional “hai,” “iie,” and “arigato.”

Kristy’s mom was waiting at the airport to meet us, and bought us tickets on an express bus to Tokyo, which dropped us at our hotel. We are staying at the New Sanno Hotel, a military R&R facility for which we are qualified by Kristy’s stepdad Larry, who was stationed here in the USAF.

We joined them in the American-style restaurant in the lobby, but didn’t really feel like having american food. So we sipped Kirin while swapping travel stories, and then after everyone split up to go to their rooms, ventured out into the Tokyo night for some noodles! It was quite exciting to be walking around the city; we are staying in the Azubu district, which is mostly residential. We walked along the main street (unfortunately, the streets here have no names, so I can’t be more specific) and found ourselves near the Hiro-o train station. We passed several small restaurants but found ourselves more nervous than expected about trying one. We did resist the urge to stop in a bar packed with noisy expats and instead found a small place called “Spice,” where I got some excellent cold udon and Kristy had some spicy pork noodles. We sat in the dim Tokyo restaurant and ate. It was completely otherworldly, as had been the walk. Afterwards, we did return to the hotel to get some sleep.
I’m going to go get dressed for breakfast.