Blogging in Vain

It's been four posts now with nary a comment. Sure, I'll keep blogging for myself ... because I love sitting here and uploading pictures, typing posts, when I could be doing OTHER things ...

like wandering the streets of Kyoto, stumbling upon art exhibits with live performances,

visiting the A-bomb dome in Hiroshima and the magnificent island of Miyajima (supposedly one of the top-three prettiest places in Japan; I can see why).

The mother of one of Slice's companions volunteered to drive from Osaka to Kyoto, pick us (and our luggage) up, and drive us around the city before taking us back to Osaka with her! This is the Kinkakuji or 'Golden Helmet' temple.

We met up with another former companion and hiked through a bit of the Thousand Gates...

Never missing a photo-op, of course.

Saturday we rode up to Nagoya for a mission reunion of sorts ... seven elders and three sisters, plus me. We went to a sweet aquarium that was like Sea World but on a smaller scale. There was even a dolphin show. We loved it.

We all went out for ice cream afterward, pitching in to get two HUGE parfaits. The boys ate that one (which cost about $50) and the girls ate a chocolate one. Mmmm.

Then we missed our train back to Tokyo - the one that would get us to Tokyo in time to take another train to Yamagata, our home for the next few days. So we scrambled and found a hostel in Tokyo instead, riding to Yamagata Sunday morning. When we got to church this sister about knocked Slice over, she was so excited to see him:

She invited us over for dinner after church, and we had a jolly time! (I had a permanent blush on my face, can you tell? Yoshida Shimai was praising everything from my skin to my voice to my family for two straight hours, I couldn't handle it.)

We are now in Yamagata/Yonizawa which is northwest of Kyoto. Much colder. We are staying with a couple who have an awesome old house, mad kimono-dressing skills, and wireless internet!

Remind me later to tell you about

• the creepy guy who sat by me on the bus, forcing us to get off at the next stop
• how we spent an evening hopping from bus to bus, just to see where we would end up
• the homeless guy who took our food (but refused the bananas) at the Nagoya Eki
• how I ATE SQUID, unknowingly, thanks to Slice
• drunk guys in the hostel at 12:30 a.m.
• my near-fainting spell this morning
• the Public Baths ... I have now been to two.
• how I got proficient with the Japanese-style toilet (I call it, affectionately, the water trough)

This was our guesthouse in Gion, Kyoto.