So…is it just me, or does Japan somehow slip under the radar of even the most travely of travelers?
I always hear people talk about places like Paris and Italy and Thailand and Bali and Istanbul and Morocco, but I never hear anyone say, “It’s always been my dream to visit Japan one day.”
Know what I mean? It wasn’t high on my list either, but thanks to a pal who invited me to join her on a work trip to Kyoto, I came, I saw, I sat on their heated toilet seats and I will never be the same.
Here’s what I used to think about Japan I’m not proud to admit:
Totally scary impossible to read alphabet with nothing in English and nobody who speaks it around to help
Super expensive
Boring food once you were done ODing on sushi
Ho-hummish in the beauty department
Crowded
Alienating
Impossible to navigate
Oh I was so wrong wrong wrong! And I have pictures to prove it. Here’s some stuff from the Kyoto part of my trip:
Loaded with secret alleyways where you feel you could easily run into Batman
Surrounded by mountains
You can ride the bus in your robe
Candy!
Squid on a stick!
One night we were out for dinner, and I realized it was a year ago that week that I put my dear old 22 year old cat, The Big Guy, to sleep, at once breaking my heart and freeing me up to travel the world indefinitely.
And I can not conclude my post about my newfound Japanamazement without talking about their toilets.
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2 Comments
the toilets are supremely off the hook! i long, LONG i tell you for the day when i install one in my very own home. if you are still in kyoto you should go to this place where they dress you up like a geisha and take your picture – it’s so camp! (it’s in the guidebooks)…thrilled your loving your travels – watching you brings back such great memories – thanks for sharing your adventures – be safe and continue to enjoy my dear!
oh and also – if she happens to be performing you should really check out japan’s very own hologrammy britney spears – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTXO7KGHtjI
and if you are headed to tokyo you must, must, must stop by the hotel okura (http://www.hotelokura.co.jp/tokyo/en/) for a drink – it is like stepping back in time in the coolest way possible…
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