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We’re back from Vegas. We stayed in a Vegas version of a motel (AKA Circus Circus), and I guess there are some things you just can’t be stingey with. A Vegas hotel is one of them.

I guess we made two fatal errors: (1) driving 500 miles for Thanksgiving (2) staying somewhere cheap once we got there.

Our first roadtrip in years started with me desperately trying to find ways for my plants to feed themselves for 3 days. I am pleased to say that the plants did quite well. A few had to be moved outdoors, and I think the weather was in my favour because it was rainy for the first two days. The indoor plants were either potted and moved into little troughs filled with water (that way they feed themselves via osmosis), and seedlings were transferred to a plastic box with water. When I got back the bulbs I planted sprouted, my teacup violet grew out a few more leaves, and my little tomato sprouts grew out their real leaves. I should’ve done this ages ago.

Anyway, next part of the journey involved driving to get gas at Costco for our trip. The lines at Costco should’ve been indication of things to come, and I spent 20 minutes waiting in line for cheap gas (aka petrol for you lot at home). It was worth it, because it was cheaper than any other gas station we found on the way, even through middle-of-nowhere-California.

I picked KF from work, and then started on our trip. The 101 we took for the first leg was traffic-logged with folks with the same idea as us. We were stuck in traffic for about 1/3 of the way. The other 1/3, we were stuck behind big-rigs on 1 lane country “highways”. The trip was to have taken 9 hours from San Francisco, but we took a 10 hours – from San Jose.

Once I got to the hotel lobby, I regretted my decision to go cheap on the hotel. The lobby was dark and rank, and there was a line checking in at 2am. The elevator (lift) from the hotel garage (covered multi-story carpark) smelled of puke. The room was a little more than a motel room. Carpet that looked like it needed a good shampoo, bad finishing, dusty bed cover, a creaky bathtub, an super old showerhead. Around the hotel it was really crowded and smokey, and we could smell the smoke in the room. In fact, thanksgiving was probably a bad time to be there, it was crowded everywhere, and there were kids yelling and knocking things about the rooms next door. Not exactly a relaxing holiday spot.

We did have a good time walking around The Strip. We’d park in one of the hotels and walk down the strip, checking out the opulence and sheer size that pretty much defines Las Vegas. At each hotel I’d say to KF – next time we’ll stay here – knowing full well one night there costs as much as the whole 3 nights it cost us to stay at Circus Circus.

We started back for home bright and early on Saturday in a bid to get ahead of the holiday crush back on Sunday. There was a fair amount of traffic as well, but for the most part it moved. The only real congestion happened just a little outside Las Vegas, around the desert. We were wondering if there was an accident when KF started going – woah, bird! Traffic stopped, apparently, because there was a wild emu running around the freeway. It eventually ran off to the shoulder where the desert was.

And that was our trip to Vegas. I’m not sure I’d wanna drive there again. But I so wanna stay in the pyramid hotel the next time around.

It’s been about a week since we got here. I can’t say I’ve really settled down, since most of the time no one knows what I’m saying, and I haven’t really rolled my tongue around speaking American. Apparently, no one knows the difference when I say “three” and “tree”. Mostly because I say “tree” all the time. And it’s really no fun when I’ve to explain terms like “LC” and “unglam”.

So you gotta believe me when I tell you how happy I was to have dinner with Pok and SKH today.

Familiar faces, familiar tones, familiar terminology, they know exactly what I mean. And it was so comforting. And add to that, Big Why lawyers are actually quite a funny (-haha, not funny-weird) lot, we had a really good time. Oh and the food was pretty darn awesome, too.

Well, next up: picnic with the “Slocals” Sammy-boy and Auntie in August. Yes, Sammy-boy is so busy I haveta schedule his time in advance. Should be loads of fun!

We’re back. We touched down a few hours ago, had something to eat (because I refuse to ever eat another plane meal again, I’m usually starving by the time we land anywhere), got home, cleaned up, changed the bedsheets, moisturised properly for once in 10 days and tried to sleep. Unsuccessfully.

The irony. Couldn’t get enough of it on vacation, but when I get home I can’t sleep when it counts. My good hours are supposed to be at 9am. I can’t even wake up then.

Tokyo was magnificent. We finally got to know her a lot better on the last few days, but had to leave just as we were getting familiar – before the contempt set in, which I appreciate. We’ll always look back on this trip and remember having a fantastic time.

I think it was a good break, now that we’re back to reality we probably have to get a move on things, but that’s life right? No rest for the wicked.

We’re back. We touched down a few hours ago, had something to eat (because I refuse to ever eat another plane meal again, I’m usually starving by the time we land anywhere), got home, cleaned up, changed the bedsheets, moisturised properly for once in 10 days and tried to sleep. Unsuccessfully.

The irony. Couldn’t get enough of it on vacation, but when I get home I can’t sleep when it counts. My good hours are supposed to be at 9am. I can’t even wake up then.

Tokyo was magnificent. We finally got to know her a lot better on the last few days, but had to leave just as we were getting familiar – before the contempt set in, which I appreciate. We’ll always look back on this trip and remember having a fantastic time.

I think it was a good break, now that we’re back to reality we probably have to get a move on things, but that’s life right? No rest for the wicked.

Been trying to edit the silly image names out with more descriptive titles than IMG_5766, but I guess that’ll have to do for now since Flickr is crapping out on me a little.

Tokyo has been fun – it’s getting warmer so we don’t really have to run out in jackets, even at night. We’ve done a bunch of stuff, mostly involves taking the train and walking between stations. So far we’ve done the whole Akihabara-Ginza-Roppongi-Shinjuku thingamagig, flitting between areas (except for Akihabara where we had to do extensive checks on Yodobashi Camera – and again at Yodobashi Shinjuku).

Today we caught a baseball game – the Seibu Lions vs the Tokyo Sparrows – at the Goodwill Dome, but unfortunately the home team, the Lions, lost. It was lively and the fans were definitely entertaining.

Tokyo photos will probably only make the light of Flickr when we get back. This connection I’m using isn’t made for mass uploads. We’ll be back in SG Saturday morning 9 June, if anyone misses us. Ciao for now.

Recording this entry on the Shinkansen out of Kyoto where we spent four glorious days. I thought I took a bunch of glorious photos, but 1) I was mistaken 2) My hands are way shakey 3) I stupidly set the pics on AV mode at a lower resolution. Blah!

Quick Kyoto highlights:
Nintendo buildings:
KF’s fabled Shangri-la. We walked for a couple of hours trying to find it, but his persistence paid off and we managed to get a few snaps of it. Haven’t seen KF that excited and insistent on something since, well, since we were in Osaka and he just *had* to go into every game shop to find his GBA games. Still, glad we managed to track both buildings.

Walking around the city: we got around a fair bit on foot. After walking around with Jeffrey the first night and comparing the distance we covered on the map back at the hotel, I figured (perhaps somewhat foolishly) the city was walkable so I made KF walk pretty much everywhere. It’s good to be out walking, I figure it’s making up for all those years sitting around on my desk pretty much not doing anything (but still eating 5 times a day). The weather was nothing like it is in SG, so it was really pleasant.

Fushimi-inari Taisha:

KF says there’s a scene in Memoirs of a Geisha (the one starring Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi, not to be confused with The Last Geisha, where Tom Cruise plays a young Geisha who longs to be with Ken Watanabe) filmed there (or at least set there). It’s the one where there are dozens of red torii (red gates to shrines) lined up in a row. The pathway goes on for about 4km up the mountain, it’s particularly surreal walking through it. To get to the shine you can take the JR Nara line to Inari Station (it’s 2 stations from Kyoto Station).

Kyoto is amazing, it’s a really nice break between the bustle that was Osaka and that will be Tokyo. I love the way the city keeps it’s character in her buildings and streets, yet it’s a bustling city with all the trappings of a large metropolis. Still, the Kyoto I will remember fondly is the one of pavillions, quaint streets, torii, tree-lined streams and sipping matcha in a garden.

Many thanks to Anthony and Jeffrey for making our trip particularly memorable. Please visit us in SF or SG (where attendance will be spotty after July 07) so we can play host for a change. Domo arigato gozaimasu.

Now, onto Tok-eee-yoh!

<quick updates>

Trusty S1 is officially falling apart: pieces are coming off, and the flash is finding it hard to get himself in a firing position. Problem is, after dinner conversation with KF’s friend, Jeffrey, about sensor sizes (and a little reading up on dpreview) the S5’s sensor is only slightly larger than the S1’s, but it packs more than double the resolution. Sigh, decisions, decisions.

It was a little hot today, we were out and about in tee shirts even in the evening, so I think it must’ve been something like 24°C. Nice to be running about without jackets.

We went to the Kyoto International Manga Museum today, it was fun! Using the premises of the old Tatsuike Primary School somewhere close to the middle of town, it was three floors of manga mania – a h-u-g-e library of mangas (donated by a bloke who used to run a rental store) which you can just take off the shelf and read around the school (on the lawn, around the corridors or stairs), a figurine exhibition, caricature artists, a figurine painting area (we weren’t the only adults there) and a cafe. Costs 500 Yen for entrance, and another 500 Yen to get to special features areas. It’s kinda near Karasumaoike subway station (tourist guide maps say 100m away, but it’s really 50m), worth the time if like KF, you like your robot anime and stuff.

I buckled and did some shopping today – knick knacks and souveniors. And a little something from the Manga Museum gift shop. Scope Dog! I think he looks badass. I should stop shopping, all that extra weight is going to be a pain to lug back to Tokyo.

Hopefully tomorrow we can do our Gion walks. We already walked around some of it with Jeffrey, but it was dark and the S1 takes crap night shots. Tomorrow we’ll try to head back and get some proper shots.

</quick updates>

KF bid farewell to his geek/gameboy haven Den Den Town today with one last visit before we headed for Kyoto.

Kyoto’s only a (bullet) train stop away, but it feels like another world. We checked into the comfy little inn we booked and then headed out with KF’s friend Jeffrey for a walk around Kyoto and dinner. It was a lovely night out, and it’s certainly much better seeing the city with a local. We walked around alleys which led to temples and/or restaurants, little streams which led to larger ones, the Kyoto we saw on tv – we walked through it.

Then as we headed back to the inn, we walked on to the main road and it was the large-city scape we’ve come to associate Japan, or rather Tokyo with.

Amazing. More photos in the day when the camera will behave better.

Love about Japan so far:

• No service: vending machine restaurant dinners take the guesswork out of things
• Something for anything: amazing array of toilettries, miscellany (like foot gel plasters for sore feet – lifesavers)
• Great weather: only rained once, but it’s cool and dry otherwise
• Efficient transportation: on time, every time
• Electronics shopping: throngs of it
• Fantastic use of space: they maximise space without sacrificing aesthetics
• Cute cars: they look like they got squished in little match boxes before they rolled off the production line
• Character: not many cities have this

Not so love about Japan so far:

• Smokey restaurants

Terribly tired. But it’s terrific to be here.

It’s night 4 in Japan, and we’re enjoying our last night in Osaka. Other than my feet killing me, everything else is great.

The weather’s been pretty good. Food and all is fine. Hotel rooms I can live with (though this one has a spotty cable-internet connection, tsk tsk).

But my feet are killing me! We’ve been walking a lot. We walked around the train stations trying to get to Ikebukuro the first night in Tokyo, the walked around Ikebukuro the next morning, then we had to get back into the subway (up and down flights of stairs lugging around something like 25kg of luggage is a real killer), navigate the molemines that is the underground, find our bullet train to Osaka, change a couple of subway lines and then walk to the hotel. That is such a killer trip, I wouldn’t recommend staying at this hotel (Namba Washington Hotel) if you plan to subway your way around Japan.

Yesterday we made a short daytrip to Himeji Castle. It was an awesome little trip. It rained a little but it didn’t pour, instead it just kinda sprinkled the whole day.

Today we walked around looking for electronics. We started with Yodobashi Camera, went around looking for Sony Tower (but it was being rebuilt), and then it was mostly walking around looking for more. Didn’t buy anything though.

Tomorrow we finish our shopping around the area and head on over to Kyoto. More then.