Tokyo and Kyoto

We had a fantastic time on vacation, as we generally do. Traveling while pregnant was easier than expected. I always got a seat on the subway, and we got to sit in the front of the plane. Looking at our pictures, I understand why I got special treatment. I look huge! I'm lucky they let me get on the plane.

Japan is China and Korea's refined cousin. There were no smells, no open markets with strange animal parts on display, and the people were all very polite and distant. No one tried to engage us in random conversation. We are in the habit of ordering food to share, but Japanese food all comes on individual trays. We were shocked to see many people eating alone, which I guess more than anything else indicates that we have been living in Korea for too long. Japanese people displayed creativity and individualism in their clothing. We saw people in costume and people with dyed hair and piercings, both of which are noticeable absent from Korea. Some people wore kimonos. I often felt like I wasn't cool enough to be seen in public.

Japanese food is wonderful, and we ate it for every meal. I had a lot of noodles; Bobby had a lot of sushi. There is no tipping in Japan, as is the case in China and Korea. There were service charges added to all of our bills, which strikes me as a more polite way to do things. We ate one meal at a vending machine restaurant, which involved us selecting a food item, paying for it in a vending machine, and bringing the ticket inside to be redeemed. There were vending machines for just about everything, including movies in the hotel.

I was disappointed to see that we were scheduled to arrive during a typhoon that was supposed to hit the Kansai region south of Tokyo, but it provided minimal trouble. It rained every day, but never for longer than ten minutes. It was very humid for the rest of the time, so we welcomed the showers. When we were traveling to Kyoto, our train was delayed due to heavy rain. When we got to Kyoto, however, the typhoon had passed and we dealt with the same sporadic showers that we saw in Tokyo.

This blog is enhanced by the new camera that Bobby bought me.  It takes night pictures!  We took plenty.