Finally back home after three months in Japan! The past week has been a lot of catching up, cleaning, and getting ready to go back to work… not to mention prepping to send Aaron off to another deployment!
Sending him off to the next one!
BACK HOME IN TEXAS | June 10, 2019
I have been slacking on making posts here, but that’s because I was busy living my life! Our last few weeks in Japan were so packed that I just wanted to enjoy it, take pictures, and write about it afterwards!
The sky is too bright. I’m not opening my eyes. I am not sorry. (Aaron’s thoughts in the form of a haiku.)
Our last week before returning to the US, we backpacked across mainland Japan. We hit Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo in six days! Changing hotels every night was exhausting, but we were so glad that we got to experience so much in such a short amount of time.
On the plane ride home, I went through the pictures on my camera to plan out future posts… I have enough pictures from Okinawa, Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, and my trip back home to make 40 posts!! It feels excessive, but I really want to catalogue all of the places we have visited individually, because it’ll be quite a while until I get to experience something like this again!
Just a preview of what’s to come…
In Okinawa:
Okinawa World
New fountain pens!
Shurijo Castle Park
Kokusai Dori – international street (had to finally buy souvenirs…)
A questionable “zoo” that bred an excessive amount of guinea pigs (we think they were fed to a capybara?)
Our favourite places to eat and hang out in Oki!
The Sega arcade
Farewells to our friends!
Backpacking through Japan – Osaka:
Japanese-style business hotel – a bit small for my tall, American husband
Osaka Castle
Dotonbori – a bustling commercial street
Backpacking through Japan – Kyoto:
Train to Kyoto – my first train ride ever!
Japanese-style dorm hotel – similar to a hostel, but with private rooms
Gion – the geisha district
Starbucks in Gion – built right into a machiya (traditional wooden townhouse)
Kyoto at night
Yasaka Pagoda/Shrine
Inari Shrine – a hike up Mt. Inari-san featuring torii gates, 233m of elevation, and a deceptively tiring 5k
Nishiki Market
Drinking in Kyoto – started the night with dozens of drunk businessmen trying to find their shoes
Ryokan – traditional Japanese hotel
Golden Pavilion – a disappointing tourist attraction
Ryoan-ji – a zen temple and rock garden
Kyoto Station – it was massive
Backpacking in Japan – Tokyo:
Train to Tokyo – spoiler: we saw Mt. Fuji!
Ginza – upscale shopping district
Journey to the wrong hotel – a 2.5 hour detour… because we went to Shinjuku instead of Shibuya
A very average hotel
Puroland – Hello Kitty’s theme park!
Hair appointment in Tokyo – first time to ever dye my hair!
Final night in Tokyo! – shopping and karaoke in Ginza
Wrapping up my Japan posts will be my return home, which involved 3 delayed flights, an overnight stay in the EVA Air lounge, and about 52 hours between my departure in Okinawa to my arrival in the US! I also can’t forget to mention a brief stop-over in San Francisco, where I visited with my mom and her boyfriend, David!
Now that I’m home and Aaron’s off to his next deployment, I’ll be catching up on my posts while getting back into the swing of normal life, so be ready to see more Japan updates over the course of the next couple of months or so!