Summer 9: Heading For Kyoto

 On the 22nd we headed for Kyoto. We took the ferry from Toi to Shimizu. From there we took a short shuttle bus to the station and then a local train and a shinkansen. It took about 3 hours in total. Kyoto is quite a bit further from me than Tokyo, but it doesn't take that much more time to get there. It takes me about 2 and a half hours to get to Tokyo. The ferry was a lot of fun. I've lived here five months now and had not been on the ferry...

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Summer 8: Izu

Izu isn't as interesting as Tokyo, but we still found some things to do. One day we went to Mishima and saw a movie. It's called Karigurashi no Arrietty, which means "The Borrower Arrietty." It's a Studio Ghibli movie, which is a famous Japanese animation studio. It was all in Japanese without subtitles, but we were still able to understand the movie. It was really cute and had super pretty animation.  Here's a trailer for the movie:  One...

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Summer 7: Asakusa

On our last day in Tokyo we visited Asakusa. Before checking out of the hotel I took a few pictures of the room. This is the street the hotel was on. When we arrived in Asakusa I saw rickshaws. There is a street lined with souvenir shops leading up to Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest temple. There was a random gingerbread house ride in the distance. I kind of want to ride it.  Here you can see the Tokyo Sky Tree under construction in...

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Summer 6: Yes, My Princess!

Lauren found a Butler Cafe online and we just had to visit it. It's a cafe where you are treated like a princess. All the waiters... I mean butlers... are western.  Here is how it is described on wikipedia:"The cafe attempts to create an atmosphere reminiscent of a western fairy tale. The butlers treat the customers in a cordial manner by opening doors, taking coats and pulling out chairs, and tiaras are even presented with their meal. The...

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