japan

temples temples temples... kyoto is full of them. kate and i climbed mt. hiei the other day, its 800m or so. sitting on top is a massive shrine/temple complex that is a world heritage site. it was originally built in 964 or something, then burned down, then rebuilt. i rang a very large bell. one of the shrines here is were monks officially become monks. this was also where the japanese form of buddism started. buddist disneyland, as kate called it.

kate participates in an english speaking group thingy, which, really is just people sitting around a dinner table speaking english (or attempting). it was really fun, ate japanese curry and talked about random things.

im more or less over seeing temples, because thats most of what i've done so far. getting around kyoto is really easy, and no japanese skills are needed. the city is more or less a grid with mountains all around to orient yourself in the orient easily. theres lots of good food, and biking on cheap bikes is simple.

most of japanese foods is not sushi, but they do eat a lot of fish. we did go to a conveyor belt sushi place last night and had amazing cuts of fish, many of which i'd never seen. we went to a different japanese restuarant the other day where kate knows the chef. he made us a plate of sashimi to start which had squid that melted in your mouth. animal fat is butter goodness