I am absolutely awful with jet lag. The lack of daylight this time of year doesn’t help either… In the one-week since I’ve returned, my sleep schedule has been:

Thursday:  2-6PM,  1-5AM
Friday:  6-830PM,  3-11AM
Saturday:  4-7PM,  3-8AM
Sunday:  1-5AM
Monday:  11PM-6AM (anomaly)
Tuesday:  6-830PM,  1-6AM
Wednesday:  9PM-3AM
Thanksgiving goal: Make sure not to face plant in a bowl of mashed potatoes.

Anywho, on this last trip, I took a week of vacation to relax and see the sights of Japan. The main focus was a weekend in Kyoto with a friend from college (Joe) and a former coworker (Tyler).

Joe and I met in Yokohama, but I was running late, so we missed our 8AM Shinkansen train (it was departing as we got to the platform). Luckily, we found out that the train ran every SEVEN-freaking-minutes. Sooo, we just caught the next one (although we had to board the non-reserved car).

In 2-hours, we had traveled 277-miles, arrived in Kyoto, got some snacks, and dropped our bags off at a Ryokan by the station.

We met up with Tyler and had sushi for breakfast #2 at a fine sushi establishment at Kyoto Station. Actually, it was a conveyor belt joint, but the sushi was fresh, and each plate was only $1.58…

There was copious tuna, salmon, and eel consumption.

Tyler (living one hour away in Osaka) had created a wonderful itinerary, so the first order of business was to visit the Suntory Yamazaki Distillery.

In Yamazaki, fire hydrants didn’t exist, so these transformed into fire trucks in the event of an emergency.

^The yellow square is the stay-out zone. The resulting truck is tiny, adorable, and incredibly efficient. Actually, the hose hook-ups are via manholes, not hydrants.

Yamazaki

Suntory Yamazaki  Whiskey Library

^they had whiskeys from around the world, bottled up, and labeled.

Suntory Yamazaki Distillery

I was told by many colleagues in Japan, that visiting Kyoto this time of year was desirable; as the foliage would be changing. As you can see, the tree at the distillery was presumable young, and very rebellious. However, we had better luck at our next stop.

Meet Kiyomizu-dera. Perched at the top of a hill in eastern Kyoto, this Buddhist temple was built in 1633, using zero nails. At the time, the theory was that the underlying structure would be able to deflect more in the event of an earthquake, protecting the temple.

Many were dressed in 着物, although this seemed to be more or less a fashion statement.

Momiji trees were abundant.

Along the route to the temple were wonderful preserved and restored shopping streets… a major tourist trap. After our temple run, dinner was had a local ramen shop, and we closed the night at a craft beer pub (which served Rogue!!!).

One thing the ryokan had, was a traditional Japanese bath. Unlike my previous experience in a Japanese bath, I did not have the privilege of bathing with a Japanese rugby team this time around.

Day Two:
The next morning started off with a traditional breakfast with everyone staying at the ryokan, meeting up with Tyler and his friend, and then a visit to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. The shrine was originally for Inari, the goddess of rice and agriculture, however now, it has expanded to all types of business. Every Torii is paid for by a business donation.

Inari is ministered to by white foxes

Lush

Portrait.

After we were completely soaked from the rains, we caught dried off during lunch at Mos Burger and went to the Kyoto International Manga Museum, which had a nice exhibit on the process of producing a manga.

In the evening, everyone parted ways, and I continued to Osaka.