july 8

So I had to wake up at 445 to catch the 545 train to yokohama. I was late and had to run a bit. Ouch. So I made it. Got to the station and switched. I got to the yokohama station and to the tokaido line and actually got a seat. Very nice. I got to Tokyo station and called Brandon. I said where I was and he was like “uhhhh, well where are you?” “Well, I will walk there.” But I told him that he could have walked this way too. We reserved our ticket and I slept nearly the whole time.

We got to himmeji and got a map. We took a bus up the street but didn’t get off at the right stop. It took just as long as it would have if we walked. So we went into the castle. And ti started raining. We went all the way to the top. Himmeji was the first world heritage site in japan. It hasn’t been well kept. But it was never destroyed by fire or anything so it never had to be rebuilt. It was a nice view. We headed down to the gift shop and got a coin. Then we walked back to the staion and caught the very next train to Kyoto. I meant to stay awake but I slept. We got there and bought a sushi lunch box.

Then we took the bus to higashiyama yaui and went to ryozan kannon. I thought it was very cool. We even got to go inside. There were many buddhas for the different calendar years. I wanted to buy a mini but they didn’t have any. We left and went to Kyoto tower shop and I bought more yatsuhashi. Some for Suzuki san, saito sense, and fukui sense. One for me and kara. Then we went inside to book our ticket. Unfortunately there was an accident with the shinkansen and they weren’t sure when it would be up and running again. We went and got some gelato and went to the basement of Isetan for snacks. I bought anko and maccha shue cream. They even gave me some ice to keep it cold. B found some maccha covered yatsuhashi.

Then we went back to the ticket office and reserved seats. We got to the gates and it said many trainswer delayed. We decided to try for non reserved and waited in line. A train came and it was packed. too many people got on and had to stand. That’s crazy. We ended up on the kodama train. It takes an hour longer but at least we got seats. I got off the train at shin Osaka and b had to wake me up I almost missed it. I took the yamanote line for yokohama but wasn’t paying attention when I should have gotten off and switched. I rode back one station. Had to get off wait for the next train and go to the next station. Get off and switch again. What a fucking hassle. I played my Zelda game on the way back to kara’s. I stepped in a huge puddle too. Oh well. I got home and the girls were asleep already. I bought some more yatsuhashi for kara and bonnie. Now time for bed.