Thursday, June 26, 2008

Kyoto

Once more, adieu. The rest let sorrow say.
-William Shakespeare

What can I say, the man has great quotable lines. I read that particular line from Richard II and immediately knew it was the right one to begin this last post with. I say last post because it is the last post I will be making on this trip. I was planning on writing this post back in the States, but since I am stuck here at Narita airport for a couple hours, I figure now is as good a time as any. At least this way the last post about Japan will actually be written in Japan. That seems only appropriate.

I know I’ve said this many times, but I really am going to miss it here. I sincerely wish I wasn’t leaving yet. I wish I could just stay indefinitely, but that’s not really possible. Alas, I have one more semester of college. Curses… now that is something I’m ready to be done with. Heh heh! Well, I never know where life is going to lead me. I didn’t expect to be in Japan in 2008, but here I am. Life may lead me back here some day, and I hope it does. But as an official conclusion to this trip, it has been the most amazing six weeks of my life, hands down, case closed, period. There have been many fowl-ups and every single one has been my own fault, but that only made the trip more eventful, if nothing else. I consider myself more than blessed to have been able to come here and meet all of these wonderful people. They are truly what made the trip as wonderful as it has been. So, to Chieko-san, Iwaoka-san, Narafu-san, Tsutsumi-san, Ai-san, Hayashi-san, Kelly-san, and everybody else, arigato gozaimasu! Until our next meeting, farewell.

Friday, June 20th
I packed for my trip to Kyoto last night, so as to be prepared to leave this evening. The design team told me that I could step out a bit early today so I could prepare for my trip, but I didn’t want to take that offer unless it was completely necessary. It didn’t end up being necessary, but I finished my work early enough that I could step out early with no issue. With my day I fixed the idiot mistake from yesterday, finished inserting the preliminary English type into the Manga Mutiny manga, and composed the cover for the activity book. The only thing I have left to do is finish my maze, get it scanned into the computer, clean it up, and paste it into the activity book. After that I’ll be as done as I can be. I still have one more day of work on Monday, so there should be no problem finishing it.

The trip to Kyoto started out eventfully. My ride to the train station didn’t happen on time. By the time I realized something was up, Nishizawa-san had left and I was stuck at NLL. I found Mike-san and asked him to find Nishizawa-san, but as you already know, that didn’t happen. But, the whole incident did have one positive conclusion, Mike-san was able to give me a ride. He got me to the train station by about 6:00, and I only barely missed the express to Ikebukuro. The next one came 15 minutes later. I still had hope I could get to Tokyo station before the shinkansen (bullet train) left. I stepped off the train in Ikebukuro at 7:02 and ran (no, this is not figurative, I was actually running) to the platform. I got the platform just as the train to Tokyo station was leaving. With this my hopes rose. But alas, all hopes were dashed. I got to Tokyo station at 7:30 precisely, and my train was leaving at 7:33. I didn’t have time to fight the crowds and find the shinkansen platform before it left. By the time I made it through the station and found my platform it was 7:38. Grrr… So, I went and talked to the ticket agent. She said that since my ticket had been booked through a travel agency and had already been paid for I could take the next train going to Kyoto. I just wouldn’t have an assigned seat and would have to fight for one. That wasn’t an issue at all. I was one of the first people on the train and had my pick of seats. But, before the train left there were no more seats left and some poor passengers were stuck standing. I wouldn’t have wanted to be one of them.

The person I ended up sitting next to was quite the character. The woman had one of the most revealing and flashy outfits I’ve ever seen. She had her hair dyed red (about the color of the background of my site), had on black tights with words in white written all over them, she wore a short black skirt and a black tank-top with red type on the front. That doesn’t sound too revealing, except the tank-top was one of those really long ones that is fashionable right now. The arm holes were large and extended down to her mid-torso. Every other woman I’ve seen has been wearing a t-shirt or something of the sort under one of these particular tank-tops, but this woman didn’t. She had a flashy red lace bra fully visible. She might as well have lost the tank-top and walked around shirtless. It’d save on fabric and the effect would be the same. Whether or not it was risqué, I still admire her fashion sense. Inappropriate, yes, but the whole look was very cool.

There was nothing terribly special about the train itself. It moved very fast, but I couldn’t tell how fast because it was completely dark outside. We had about eight or ten stops before arriving at Kyoto station. It took about two hours to get there. When I arrived it was raining lightly. I knew where my hotel was in relation to the station, but I didn’t know which direction to leave. I went to the nearest exit, the exit labeled “central exit” and attempted to find my hotel. As it happens, that particular exit was on the wrong side of the station, and I wandered around for about 20 minutes before I realized that mistake. I didn’t know how to find the other exit, so I went to the large Miyako Hotel across the street from the station to ask for directions from somebody who I would be sure could speak English. That plan worked, and with the kind gentleman’s help I found my hotel easily.

The hotel was very nice, but the room was very small. It was probably only an eight by eight foot room with a bed, desk, and bathroom. That’s all I needed though. On the bed they had laid out an yukata for guest use. A yukata, according to the little information book on the desk, is traditional Japanese sleepwear. I could tell no difference between it and a kimono except for the fact that it was cotton, while a kimono is silk. It was very comfortable. I slept well that night, which was necessary, because the next day was going to be busy.

Saturday, June 21st
It was my first day of touring in Kyoto. I was afraid it would rain today, but it didn’t. I had my umbrella with me all day, but it only ended up being a nuisance. It wasn’t needed. My first task of the day was to find the bus route map. I asked at the hotel desk, and they had one. I was able to make my way around Kyoto with little difficulty. Every bus trip, no matter how long or short, was only ¥220. This was convenient because I always knew how much to have prepared for the trip. The busses were crowded all day, but I was having too much fun to care.

My first stop of the day was Kiyomizu-dera. This Buddhist temple is famous for two reasons. First, it is built on the side of one of the mountains surrounding the city and is therefore built on wooden pillars. It’s an amazing sight to see. From the deck of the temple you can see all of Kyoto. I was impressed. The second thing that makes this temple famous is the water for which it is named. The water comes from a spring at the top of the mountain and is supposed to have healing properties. The water shoots out of little holes and down into a pool. Under the holes they have built a platform, and you can use a long ladle to reach out and catch some of the water to drink as it falls to the pool. This was a popular thing to do and the line was long. Since it is a Buddhist thing, I wasn’t sure if I should do it, but this being a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I felt it necessary. Near the front of the line there was a little stand set up that was selling “holy cups” with which you could drink. It was just ¥200 and for the same reason I was in the line, I purchased a cup. It was a really cool thing to get to do! I drank some of the water from my “holy cup.” I felt rejuvenated, since I was in need of some water at the time, but did I feel healthier? No, not really. Heh heh!

On the long road leading up to Kiyomizu-dera were many tourist shops. This was something I had expected and was even anticipating. I went to Kyoto with the intent to purchase a tea set. The really lucky thing was that one of the things that that particular area of Kyoto is known for is pottery shops. Convenient! I shopped around for a tea set for a good hour after I left Kiyomizu-dera. Most of the sets were really touristy and not worth purchasing. I had almost given up when I reached the bottom of the hill, but noticed one last shop. I walked in and walked out pretty fast. Everything in there was WAY to expensive. It was all very nice, but ¥20,000 for a tea set is a bit out of my price range. I was bummed. As I left the shop and headed down the hill I walked a little too close to one of the shops on the side and a the automatic door slid open by accident. It hadn’t looked like a place that sold pottery, but I figured since the door was open I should explore. I walked in and was confronted with the best display of teapots and tea sets I’d seen all day! None of them were like any I had yet seen and they were all reasonably priced. I found a beautiful teapot with a unique glazing job and a set of cups with a similar glaze that had a nice painting of a little white flower on the side. I had found the tea set I was after. The elderly shop owner took the tea set right off the display shelf and wrapped it for me. It was a bit higher than I had wanted to pay, ¥7,200, but it was worth it. That tea set, which I stumbled upon by complete luck, will be my official souvenir from this very memorable trip.

I went to the Heian-jingu after Kiyomizu-dera. The Heian-jingu is the newest temple or shrine in Kyoto, thought I’m not sure how old it actually is. It is famous because it is the shrine visible on the back of the ¥10 coin. I figured it must be pretty interesting to have been given such a prestigious location, but I was let down. It wasn’t that interesting. It was rather dull. It was a system of 3 buildings surrounding a large gravel courtyard. There wasn’t much else to it. I took a few pictures and kept going.

My next stop of the day was Ginkaku-ji, the Silver temple. It has that name because it was originally built with the intent of being covered by a layer of silver foil. The builder of the temple, who built it as a personal residence, died before the silver could be applied. So, it is not silver, but it is still called Ginkaku-ji. It is built in the wabisabi style, a minimalist style. Surrounding the temple is a garden which is famous for it’s variety of mosses. The garden was my favorite part of the temple, but that almost goes without saying because the Ginkaku-ji itself was under restoration today and I was unable to see it. The only part of the temple I could really enjoy were the surrounding buildings and the garden. It would have been a very peaceful place, had it not been so crowded.

Before I made it to the temple, I stopped for lunch at a ramen shop. I wasn’t in the mood for ramen at the time, so I got a bowl of rice with shrimp tempura instead. It was good. On the way out of the temple I stopped for a bottle of green tea. Also good.

I chose to make my next destination Kinkaku-ji (Golden temple). This temple actually is covered in gold and was the inspiration for the Ginkaku-ji. But, when I got to the bus stop I was sitting down looking through my tourist map when the bus that I needed came through. The driver of the bus hardly even slowed down at the bus stop. He pulled in, waited a few seconds, closed the doors and drove off! I had barely noticed his presence before he left. I got screwed by the 102. As it turns out, that’s the only bus that would take me from where I was to where I wanted to be, and it only stops by every half hour or so. In this particular case I would have had to wait closer to 45 minutes. So, I decided not to waste my time waiting on the bus and went back up near Ginkaku-ji where there is a path called the Path of Philosophy. The Path of Philosophy leads from Gikaku-ji down to Nanzen-ji, another Buddhist temple. I’m not sure of the nature of its name or why it leads between the two temples, but it’s apparently pretty historical. It’s one of the main tourist locations in Kyoto. So, I figured a better use of my time would be to walk the path down to Nanzen-ji, a temple I also wanted to see.

I didn’t feel terribly philosophical as I was walking, but I enjoyed myself. There were many old shops and such along the path. I walked into a pottery show, a shop of woodblock prints, and even an antique kimono shop. Krusty, this is where I bought your kimono. The very nice woman, Fumimaro, had a shop that was practically overflowing with old kimonos for both men and women. She couldn’t speak English, but I was able to understand what she was trying to communicate through her gestures and such. The first thing she did was ask my highest price. I didn’t want to give her one, having had experience haggling in China. So, I asked her to show me her cheaper stuff. The point got across because she started showing me kimonos. They were all very nice, but I kept pointing down and saying “cheaper”, a word she apparently understood. She wouldn’t get any lower than ¥7,000, which was a higher price than you said you wanted to pay. So, on her little board of prices, I pointed to ¥5,000 and she fished something out and pointed to ¥6,000. I liked what I saw, it fit your description, and it was in your price range, so I accepted. I got you a kimono for ¥6,000. You can look up the price in dollars if you want. Whatever you find out, round up please. I hope you like it! It’s a blue and gold weave, very nice, very clean.

Nanzen-ji was a very fun place. Over the gate to the temple there was a balcony, veranda, porch, whatchamacallit. You could actually go up on this one. I wasn’t going to pass that up, so I went up, looked around for a bit, took a few pictures, and sat down for a while. Walking the Path of Philosophy was further than I thought it was, and doing it in semi-wet shoes after walking around in the rain the night before had worn a few blisters on my toes. It was good to be shoeless. Heh heh! Nanzen-ji was a big temple complex. Many buildings and wide garden areas. I actually got a little lost and turned around in there. Again, I’m not sure of it’s origin or it’s importance, but it was beautiful. Like Ginkaku-ji, it was originally built as a private residence and later turned into a temple. This one was much bigger though. On the way back to the bus stop I got lost as well. When I finally found the bus it was around 5:30 PM and I was ready to call it a day. I was getting hungry, I was sticky from all the humidity, and my feet were killing me. So, I rode the overly-crowded bus back to Kyoto station and went back to the hotel. At the hotel I ripped off my shoes, examined my blisters, took a bath, and changed into something cleaner. I took a bit of a rest too, then decided to head out to find some food.

In Kyoto there is an area called Gion. Gion is famous for it’s night life, notably its restaurants and bars. Some sushi and a beer sounded really good, so I figured I’d head to Gion. Gion is also where you are likely to see geisha or maiko heading off to their appointments in the evening. Yes, they still exist and still function as they always have. Needless to say, I couldn’t afford the company of a geisha, but seeing one would be cool. When I got to Gion I quickly found a sushi bar. It seemed to be a big deal that a foreigner had walked in, because every one of the five sushi chefs watched me and smiled through my entire meal, commenting among themselves. I didn’t mind much, but they could have been a little more discreet about it. The customers were surprised by my presence too. The guy sitting next to me said something about Americans to his female counterpart and she chuckled. The guy on my other side knew some English, so he decided to strike up some conversation. It was difficult understanding him through his terribly thick accent, but it was an all-right bit of small talk. He knew of Tennessee through a dancing song popular in Japan right now called the Tennessee waltz. He even started singing the song to me and asked me to join in. I declined, he laughed and returned to his sushi. ^_^ Speaking of the sushi, it was amazing. Very good! I decided to be bold, so I got a sampler plate that included various sushi, a couple I hadn’t tried before. One of those two was a very rubbery sliver of something. I wanna say it was some form of shellfish, but I’m not sure. It didn’t have much of a taste, so it wasn’t my favorite. My biggest adventure was trying salmon eggs. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I have to say they were quite good! I’ll definitely try it more often in the U.S.. It could be fun to impress a sushi chef every so often. ^_^ I’ve never actually seen an American eating salmon eggs before, so I’m sure a sushi chef would get a kick out of it.

The sushi was a success, but I can’t say the same for the beer. The first bar I found that interested me was one that called itself a jazz bar. On a Saturday night I would figure a jazz bar in an area known for its bars would at least have some live music, but no. They just had some softly playing jazz on the speakers and a very pretty (yet silent) piano sitting in the corner. I saw they wanted ¥1000 for a beer, and left pretty fast. The bartender said that was the price I should expect everywhere in the area and thus directed me across the river to a more “casual” neighborhood. With a bit of searching and some getting lost I found a bar, had a beer for half what the other guy was asking, and left.

The most notable occasion of the evening was me actually seeing some geisha. These two were actually maiko, not geisha. You can tell because maiko wear flowers and such in their hair and their sleeves are much longer than those of geisha. I tried to pull one of them over so I could get a picture, but they were clearly in a rush. One of them looked at me, waved, and rushed on her way. I’m sure they get people asking them for pictures all the time, so I didn’t blame them. If they stopped for every tourist wanting a picture they’d never get to their appointment. I at least tried to get one of them as they walked away, but some other guy bumped me as I pressed the button and the picture turned out blurry. They were too far away by the time I could get the camera ready again. So, a blurry picture of the backs of two maiko is the only proof that I have that I saw them. Oh well.

I was heading back to the bus stop when I saw a large shrine on the edge of the street that was all lit up. I didn’t know the kept the shrines open to the public that late at night, so I figured I’d explore. The pictures were hard to get, with it being so dimly lit, but I got a few good shots. The most interesting thing was the large stage that had been set up in the middle of the coutyard of the shrine. I wasn’t sure what it was for, but there was an American girl who clearly had something to do with it, because she was invited on stage to try on a dragon mask. Who knows what the stage was actually for, but it was beautifully lit. I wasn’t the only person there interested in picture taking. There was a Persian woman there as well who had clearly come prepared for low light photography. She had a remote shutter trigger and a tripod. I had my finger and wobbly arms. Her pictures were probably better. ^_^

After the Gion advernture I headed back to the hotel for the last time that evening and hit the sack pretty early, around 11:00. I set my alarm for 6:00 AM and went to bed.

Sunday, June 22nd
It rained today. That explains the mood of things pretty well. I was ecstatic to be able to tour again, but the rain made me irritable. Then my umbrella broke and I was even more irritable. I tried not to let it get to me though, but it did come out in a couple ways. The first way was through the crowds. It seems Sunday is a really popular day for class trips because my first stop was the Kinkaku-ji, and it was PACKED with jr. high and high school students. I could hardly move it was so crowded. I would have loved to be able to linger a bit and have a nice time taking in the serene landscape and beautiful gold-plated temple, but when a class of 30 jr. high kids chooses to walk right in front of you at a pace slightly slower than bearable, ya get a bit irritated. Yet again, the fact that I came out with decent pictures is a work of divine intervention. In comparison to it’s sister temple the Ginkaku-ji, the Kinkaku-ji wasn’t as interesting. The garden area wasn’t as sculpted and nice, and the pond took up a bit too much space. That was one of the cool things about the Ginkaku-ji, the proportions. The ratio of pond to land in relation to the amount of space taken up by the buildings themselves was just right. I felt calm at the Ginkaku-ji despite the crowds, but at the Kinkaku-ji I was just irritated by them. Perhaps that's a reflection on the location itself… I don’t know.

The Ryoan-ji was my next stop. It’s an old Zen Buddhist temple as well, but not in the same style as the two sister temples. Rather than a traditional garden, this temple is famous for it’s rock garden. In accordance with a particular Zen Buddhist style, the rock garden is very long and narrow and surrounded by walls, thus giving a feeling of compact space. The goal is to create something as dynamic as possible inside this space and the Ryoan-ji garden has managed it extraordinarily well. The garden can only be viewed form the temple deck on one side and it consists of 15 rocks arranged in four groupings. The thing that makes the rock garden quite a dynamic piece of design is the fact that it is physically impossible to see all 15 rocks at one time. From any angle you view it at from the deck, there are always only 14 rocks visible, never more, never less. I didn’t believe it when somebody told me that, so I moved from location to location and counted the rocks myself, and it’s true. I could never count more than 14. As I moved from one location to the next, one rock would disappear while another disappeared. It was freaky. Very well designed. The temple was well worth the effort it took to get there, and that is another story.

I had quite a bit of trouble making it from the Kinkaku-ji to the Ryoan-ji. The 53 bus is the only bus that goes between the two locations. I knew this. So, I went to the Kinkaku-michi bus stop and waited for the 53 bus. I was confused that there was no 53 bus on the route map listed at the bus stop. But, there was a bus that wasn’t on my bus map, the M1. I figured the M1 and the 53 must be the same bus, so I waited. As I waited for the M1, I saw the 53 bus coming and thought all was well and the bus route map posted was wrong. It wasn’t wrong. Even though my bus map says the 53 stops at Kinkaku-michi, it doesn’t stop at the south-bound side, only the north-bound. It turns before it gets to the south-bound stop. I wasn’t sure what was going on, so I followed the bus. I missed it at the next stop, Kinkaku-mae, and it was going to be another half-hour before it showed up again. I decided to walk. I made it almost all the way to Ryoan-ji before the next 53 bus caught up to me, so I didn’t save any time, but expended unnecessary energy. Bummer. I got the my location though, which was what counted.

After Ryoan-ji, I was pretty hungry. I decided my next and last stop of the day would be Nijo-jo, the Tokugawa castle. I figured I’d be able to find some food around the castle area, so I took off in that direction. The task of finding food proved to be more difficult than it should have been. To start off, I got off the bus one stop early by accident. I walked to the next stop. the next sto was not terribly far, and I figured I’d find food on the way anyway. I didn’t. I got all the way to Nijo-jo and still had not found any food. So, I started wandering down one of the cross-streets. I walked a good 15 minutes down it with no luck at all. So, I turned around and went the other direction from the castle. I was about 10 minutes down that way before I found a place that sold omuraisu. I thought that sounded like a wonderful idea. The restaurant I went to ended up being the nicest-lookng restaurant of my entire trip. It was all wood inside, fresh vegetables waiting on the bar to be cooked, a nice garden out back, and two eating areas separated by a wall of glass and wood. I sat at the bar where they had places set with chopsticks and spoons. The chopstick rest was a chili-pepper, a real one. I though that was fun. I got an omuraisu with beef stew on top. This one differed from my other one I'd tried because the rice was mixed with vegetables inside. It tasted amazing and it was cheap too! I had a blast there and the service was exceptional. I give the restaurant two thumbs up. ^_^

With my stomach full I proceeded to Nijo-jo. I had to pay for admission of course, and since there was an audio tour offered, I figured I’d use it. That wasn’t free either. The castle itself was beautiful. There are actually two castles in Nijo-jo, the first and the only one that is completely the original structure, is the one called Ninomaru-jo. I took a tour of that castle and listened to my audio thing on the way. They wouldn’t let me take pictures inside in order to preserve the beautiful paintings on the panels. Most of the panels in the castle were done by the same man, a 25-year-old prodigy who already had students under him. The overall theme was pine trees, and this theme was repeated in every room with subtle differences depending on the rooms usage or status. The castle is the newest castle in Japan and was originally built by Ieyasu Tokugawa, the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, back in the 1600’s. I was informed later by Hosokawa-san that the castle is actually quite dangerous. Apparently there are still many booby traps inside that haven’t been discovered yet. I didn’t discover any booby traps, but the floors of the castle require a little explanation. The floors were very squeaky, but not because they’re old. They were built that way on purpose. Through a highly technical system of wood planks and nails, when you walk on the floors they sing like a bird and are often called “singing floors” or “nightingale floors.” No matter how softly you walked, they still made that singing noise. Nobody could enter the castle or even move around in it unnoticed unless they were able to keep from walking on the floor. Quite fascinating.

After my tour of Ninomaru-jo I went out to see the garden and the rest of the castle grounds. It was all quite beautiful, but the best garden in Kyoto is still the one at Ginkaku-ji. That one was just so beautiful and peaceful. Though, I have to also grant that I haven’t been to all the gardens in Kyoto, so my judgment is hardly an informed one. Anyhoo, the rest of the castle was quite fun. I enjoyed my time there and left feeling satisfied that my last great tour destination in Kyoto had been a good one.

I still had a few hours before I had to be on the shinkansen back to Tokyo, so I decided to go to a couple places that I didn’t think I would go to. The first was a place called the Nishijin Textile Center. At this place you can buy a variety of Japanese textile crafts like silk scrolls, woven throw rugs, blankets, purses, ties, and even kimonos. It was a very interesting place. There was even a woman in there on a weaving machine, and a guy painting. It was all very beautiful, but the building itself was rather dull. It was completely fluorescent lit and smelled funny. Before I left I caught the first two models in a kimono fashion show. That was interesting for a bit, but I didn’t feel like sticking around. I had to go out the back way to avoid the crowds.

My last stop of the day was the Kyoto Handicrafts Center. This is a place mostly designed for tourists, of course. There wasn’t a Japanese in the building who wasn’t working there. The place was seven stories of traditional Japanese handicrafts, ranging from pottery and painting to dolls and kimonos. It was all very overpriced, but much of it was quite nice. I looked around for a while before I decided it was a fruitless venture. I saw so many things I wanted to buy but none that I could afford. So, I hopped on the bus and headed back to the hotel to pick up my bags.

I made it to the station with minutes to spare and found my seat with a bit of trouble. I walked the wrong way down the train for a couple cars. I made it to my seat and intended to write out this blog post there, but after I put on my headphones and leaned back, I went to sleep pretty fast. I slept through the entire trip back to Tokyo. I hadn’t eaten since my omuraisu outside Nijo castle, so once I made it to Ikebukuro I exited the station in an attempt to find some food. I ended up getting turned around in the station and exited out a weird way. When I got outside I had no idea where I was. This was problematic. It was raining too, so I didn’t want to wander around very much. I turned down the first street I could. It ended up being a pedestrian street with many restaurants (lucky!). I found a ramen bar and it was the exact meal I was in the mood for. I got a bowl of ramen and what I thought was a side of gyoza. Since I can’t read Japanese, all I had to go on was the picture, and the gyoza in the picture didn’t look any larger than normal. When they were brought to me I was blown away! The three gyoza could have been a meal themselves. I had ordered them, so I attempted to finish them. As it turns out I was hungrier than I thought I was, because I finished everything. I’m sure the waitress was impressed. ^_^ She kept looking over at me while I was eating. It was the best service I could have asked for. No sooner had I finished a glass of water that another one was sitting in front of me. If I could have tipped, I would have. But, in eating out this entire six weeks, I’ve never seen anyone tip. I guess it’s just not done here. With a full stomach I walked the 200 ft back to Ikebukuro station and boarded the train back to Hatoyama.

I ended up sitting next to kendo team on the way back. Four of them were still dressed in full kendo garb, and the others were in school uniform. It was a nice looking uniform too, If they hadn’t all been wearing the exact same thing, I would have thought they were just dressed nice. They seemed to be pretty close as a team too, they all talked and chatted through the entire train ride. I wonder if they won.

I made it to Takasaka station and was a bit concerned. My ride wasn’t there! Hosokawa-san was supposed to pick me up between 10:30 and 11:00. It was 10:35. I figured I’d wait around until a little past 11:00 before panicking. At 11:10 I figured he had forgotten, so I then had two choices. I could call Narafu-san and pray I didn’t wake her up, or I could just pay for a taxi ride. I figured I had enough money for a taxi ride this evening, but didn’t really want to fork over the cash. So, I chose to go with the riskier venture; I called Narafu-san. She was awake, which I am more than happy about. She called Hosokawa-san and he came right out to get me. He had forgotten. It was okay though. I had some place to hide from the rain while i waited.

I got back to NLL at about midnight. I got online to tell my parents I’d made it back safely, but when my mom asked what time my flight was in the morning, I panicked. I thought my flight was on Tuesday! No, no, it was on Monday. So, I frantically packed and did as much as I possibly could before I had no more energy. I crashed at around 2:00 AM.

Caesar1280's Anime Ticker

.hack//Legend of the Twilight, Air, Air: The Movie, Akira, The Animatrix, Appleseed, Aquatic Language, Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror, Beck, Black Lagoon, Blame!, Blood the Last Vampire, Bokurano, Burst Angel, Castle in the Sky, Cowboy Bebop, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express, Egao, FLCL, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala, Gankutsuou, Gatekeepers, Genshiken, Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society, Gin-iro no Kami no Agito, Grave of the Fireflies, Grenadier, Haibane Renmei, Hellsing, Highlander: The Search for Vengeance, Hikaru no Go, Howl?s Moving Castle, Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade, Jyu Oh Sei, Karas: The Prophecy, Last Exile, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Midori?s Days, Milennium Actress, Mushi-shi, My Neighbor Totoro, Naruto, Naruto: The Movie, Nausicaa, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death And Rebirth, Ninja Scroll: The Movie, Other Worlds, Paprika, Perfect Blue, Pet Shop of Horrors, The Place Promised In Our Early Days, Prétear, Princess Mononoke, Read Or Die, Read Or Die: The TV, Samurai Champloo, Samurai Seven, Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal, She and Her Cat, Spirited Away, Steamboy, Tide-Line Blue, Tokyo Babylon, Tokyo Godfathers, Trigun, Voices of a Distant Star, Witch Hunter Robin, Wonderful Days, Wrath of the Ninja, X

Anime I've Seen - .hack//Legend of the Twilight - .hack//Sign - 5 Centimeters per Second - Air - Air: The Movie - Akira - The Animatrix - Appleseed - Aquatic Language - Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror - Baby Blue - Beck - Black Lagoon - Blame! - Blood the Last Vampire - Bokurano - Burst Angel - Castle in the Sky - Cowboy Bebop - Cowboy Bebop: The Movie - Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express - Doorbell - Egao - FLCL - Fullmetal Alchemist - Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala - Gankutsuou - Gatekeepers - Genius Party - Genshiken - Genshiken OAV - Ghost in the Shell - Ghost in the Shell: Innocence - Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society - Gin-iro no Kami no Agito - The Gokusen - Grave of the Fireflies - Grenadier - Haibane Renmei - Happy Machine - Hellsing - Highlander: The Search for Vengeance - Hikaru no Go - Howl's Moving Castle - Innocent Venus - Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade - Jyu Oh Sei - Karas: The Prophecy - Karas: The Revelation - Last Exile - Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi - Midori?s Days - Milennium Actress - Mushi-shi - My Neighbor Totoro - Naruto - Naruto: The Movie - Nausicaa - Neon Genesis Evangelion - Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death And Rebirth - Ninja Scroll: The Movie - Other Worlds - Ouran High School Host Club - Paprika - Perfect Blue - Pet Shop of Horrors - The Place Promised In Our Early Days - Prétear - Princess Mononoke - Read Or Die - Read Or Die: The TV - Samurai Champloo - Samurai Seven - Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal - Serial Experiments Lain - Shanghai Dragon - She and Her Cat - Spirited Away - Steamboy - Tekkonkinkreet - Tide-Line Blue - Tokyo Babylon - Tokyo Godfathers - Trigun - Trinity Blood - Vampire Hunter D - Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust - Voices of a Distant Star - Witch Hunter Robin - Wolf's Rain - Wonderful Days - Wrath of the Ninja - X Total: 93

Anime I Haven't Completed - .hack//Roots - Ah! My Goddess - Angelic Layer - Avenger - Baccano! - Bamboo Blade - Basilisk - Binchou-tan - Black Cat - Bleach - Blood+ - Boogiepop Phantom - Case Closed - Le Chevalier d'Eon - Chobits - Chrono Crusade - Code Geass - Coyote Ragtime Show - D.Gray-Man - D.N.Angel - DearS - Death Note - Dennou Coil - Desert Punk - Digimon - Dragon Ball Z - Ergo Proxy - Eureka Seven - Excel Saga - Fighting Beauty Wulong - Final Fantasy Unlimited - Flag - Freedom - Full Moon - Gantz - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Gintama - Glass Fleet - Great Teacher Onizuka - Gundam Seed - Gundam Wing - Hayate the Combat Butler - Hellsing OVA - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Ikki Tousen - InuYasha - Jigoku Shojo - Kage Kara Mamoru - Karin - Kino's Journey - Love Hina - Loveless - Lovely Complex - Lucky Star - Makai Senki Disgaea - Marchen Awakens Romance - Meine Liebe - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Mononoke - Monster - Moon Phase - Mr Stain on Junk Alley - Naruto Shippuuden - Negima?! - Negima! - Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion - Nerima Daikon Brothers - NHK ni Youkoso - Night Walker - Ninja Nonsense - Noir - Peacemaker Kurogane - Pokemon - Prince of Tennis - R.G. Veda - Ragnarok - Rec - Red Garden - Robotech - Romeo x Juliet - Rosen Maiden - Rurouni Kenshin - Saikano - Sailor Moon - Samurai Deeper Kyo - Sci-fi Harry - School Rumble - Scrapped Princess - Shin-chan - Shingu - Shion no Oh - Shuffle! - Shrine of the Morning Mist - So Long, Mr. Despair - Solty Rei - Sousei no Aquarion - Speed Grapher - Spice and Wolf - Super Milk Chan - Tales of Phantasia - Tenchi Muyo - Tenjhou Tenge - Texnolyze - The Third - Tsubasa Chronicles - Urusei Yatsura - Venus Versus Virus - Welcome to the N.H.K. - Winter Cicada - X-1999 - Xenosaga - XxxHolic - Yu Yu Hakushou - Yume Tsukai - Zero no Tsukaima - Zipang Total: 116

Manga I've Completed - Cowboy Bebop - FLCL - Manga Messiah - Manga Metamorphosis - Q*Ko-chan - Saiyuki - Shirahime-Syo Total: 7 Manga I Haven't Completed - .hack//Legend of the Twilight - Black Cat - Blame! - Chobits - D.Gray-man - Darkside Blues - Death Note - The Demon Ororon - Desert Coral - Disgaea - Eureka Seven: Gravity Boys and Lifting Girl - Fruits Basket - Getbackers - Hayate the Combat Butler - Kamunagara - Legal Drug - Love Hina - Loveless - Megatokyo - Naruto - Negima - Read Or Die - Rurouni Kenshin - Tactics - Trigun Maximum - XXXHolic Total: 26

Anime I'm Currently Watching
Samurai 7, InuYasha, Samurai Deeper Kyo,
Boogiepop Phantom, and Shrine of the Morning Mist

Manga I'm Currently Reading
Read Or Die, Hayate the Combat Butler, and Megatokyo.hack//Roots, .hack//Sign, 5 cm per Second, Ah! My Goddess, Angelic Layer, Avenger, Basilisk, Binchou-tan, Black Cat, Bleach, Blood+, Boogiepop Phantom, Case Closed, Le Chevalier d'Eon, Chobits, Chrono Crusade, Coyote Ragtime Show, D.Gray-Man, D.N.Angel, DearS, Death Note, Dennou Coil, Desert Punk, Digimon, Dragon Ball Z, Ergo Proxy, Eureka 7, Excel Saga, Fighting Beauty Wulong, Final Fantasy Unlimited, Flag, Full Moon, Gantz, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Gintama, Great Teacher Onizuka, Gundam Seed, Gundam Wing, Hayate the Combat Butler, Hellsing Ultimate, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Innocent Venus, InuYasha, Jigoku Shojo, Kage Kara Mamoru, Karin, Kino?s Journey, Love Hina, Loveless, Lovely Complex, Lucky Star, Makai Senki Disgaea, Marchen Awakens Romance, Meine Liebe, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Mononoke, Monster, Naruto Shippuuden, Negima?!, Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion, Nerima Daikon Brothers, NHK ni Youkoso, Night Walker, Ninja Nonsense, Noir, Ouran High School Host Club, Peacemaker Kurogane, Pokemon, Prince of Tennis, R.G. Veda, Ragnarok, Rec, Red Garden, Robotech, Romeo x Juliet, Rosen Maiden, Rurouni Kenshin, Saikano, Sailor Moon, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Sci-fi Harry, School Rumble, Scrapped Princess, Serial Experiments Lain, Shingu, Shuffle!, Shrine of the Morning Mist, So Long Mr. Despair, Solty Rei, Sousei no Aquarion, Speed Grapher, Super Milk Chan, Tales of Phantasia, Tenchi Muyo, Tenjhou Tenge, Texnolyze, The Third. Trinity Blood, Tsubasa Chronicles, Urusei Yatsura, Welcome to the N.H.K., Winter Cicada, X-1999, Xenosaga, XxxHolic, Yu Yu Hakushou, Yume Tsukai, Zero no Tsukaima, Zipang

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