Better than Kobe: Takayama Japan, 2015

In the last post but one, where we attended the cooking class in Kyoto that featured Kobe beef, we teased that the Kobe was not the tastiest beef we had in Japan. And in fact, we had tastier beef two days later, in Takayama.

Our worst meal in Japan, 2015

(Finishing up a few remaining posts before we start our next trip.) On my first visit to Japan, with a friend, we had the best meal of the trip and the worst meal of the trip within 24 hours of each other. We’d gone to Koya-san, the temple complex, and stayed in a temple for…

Cooking class in Kyoto, January 2015

(Resurrecting a post that’s been sitting in the Drafts folder for almost 2 years now, and testing a new crossposting plugin at the same time.) We are not social people. Well, okay, we’re selectively social. We have our groups of friends that we see now and then, but we don’t generally seek out new acquaintances….

Jet lag and Oji Inari Shrine

Still jet lagged; when we got home yesterday at 2PM or so, Toby managed to stay awake until 10PMish, while I crashed at 4, got up to eat dinner, crashed again, then got up to watch Toby play Assassin’s Creed for a while, then crashed when Toby went to bed. Toby got up about 6AM,…

Yay

Flight at 9:54; the 9:09 time printed in the boarding passes is actually boarding time. It’s now 8:53 and we’re sitting at the gate waiting. Sent from my Apple ][e

Arg

Our plane is a little under an hour late to Chicago at the moment, which means instead of a decent 2-hour layover, we get a 1-hour layover to collect our bags, go through Customs, and get to our next flight, one terminal over. Something tells me we’re probably not making it. Bah. Sent from my…

Security at Narita

– no requirement to take off your shoes – no one yelling instructions to everyone in line like we’re a group of distracted fourth graders – and when my belt set off the metal detector, the guy patting me down didn’t feel the need to touch my balls Compared to the US, it’s civilized.

Always, on takeoff

When the captain kicks it in the ass on the runway, I flash back to the Viper launch sequence from Battlestar Galactica.

Waiting…

Our tickets get us access to the Sakura Lounge at Narita Airport before our flight. Taking advantage of the power points and the free wifi to top up our devices while farting about on the intertubes. One hour before we take off for home! Sent from my Apple ][e

Heh

Guy standing next to is waiting for the train is doing Tai Chi. I think he’s drunk. Sent from my TRS-80