More travel Info
Yesterday I didn't post anything as I passed out once my head hit the bed. I don't even remember if I changed clothes. Anyway.
We woke up early just because, then we got breakfast and headed to the Shinkansen!!! (Bullet train). We were planning on heading to Nagano then on to Matsumoto. It took about an hour and a half to get to Nagano from Tokyo. Once we got there, we had to walk 30 minutes to get to the Zenkoji temple. It is apparently a very sacred place in Japan because no car or bus or train is allowed to stop near there. It was a long walk up a hill. When we got there, they said that we could not have any food or drink including water. But we cheated and I hit the water in my purse.
It was really sunny out and I did not plan on turning into a lobster so I opened my umbrella and used it as a special shield against the sun. Pretty much every Japanese girl was doing the same thing. They are very much against the sun here. They think that the whiter you are, the more attractive you are. Which is the opposite in America. I would look ridiculous if I was walking around with an umbrella on a sunny day in America, but here in Japan, it's perfectly normal. :) At least, that's what I keep telling myself.
There were several tours at this temple so there were quite a few people grouped together, but around the temple gardens it was very calm and peaceful. I understand more of why Japanese frequent temples. It is a way to escape the busy lifestyle once in a while.
After exploring the entire temple grounds we headed back to the station. We stopped and got some lunch. We learned very quickly that Japan doesn't have many public trash cans. It took a really long time to find trash bins in which we could throw the remains of our lunch away. The streets are surprisingly clean for not having hardly any trash bins. Then we got back on the Shinkansen. We decided against going to Matsumoto because it was another 50 minutes away, and we were not expecting to have to walk so long from the station to temple in Nagano. The gruide book said a quick walk from the station to the temple. LIES! Anyway.
I decided to show JD where I stayed when I went to school here last year. It is about a 30 minute train ride from Tokyo to Kichijouji normally. However, today there was a "Passenger Injury" (Which unofortunately means suicide) so the rapid train was not running. We had to take the local line and that adds about another 15 minutes. Great. -_- Any my rude husband decides to sit in the only available seat as I complained to him how badly my back was hurting, and would LOVE to sit down for a while.......
The station was under construction when I lived there and it was finished yesterday. It threw me off as to were I was but once I found my barings I was ok. We went to one of my favorite stores of the time and I was hoping to look around the art section, and to my surprise it was not there! How sad. I really wanted to buy something too. We walked around a very big shopping center for a while then headed back to the hotel. My back could just not take it any longer. Oh the joys of scoliosis.
We grabbed some dinner, ate it when we got back, then JD took a shower. I must have fallen asleep after that, because I don't remember anything.
Today we got up at a normal time. Around 8 or so. We had purchased something at a bakery the day prior so we ate that for breakfast. Then we hung around the hotel for a while being lazy and watching TV in Japanese. We decided to go shopping because we were very adventurous the previous days.
We went to Shibuya and visited some of the shops there as it is a popular shopping area.
We got lunch as Mos Burger. I have always wanted to eat there and never got the chance last year. It pretty much is a Japanes version of McDonalds so there really is nothing to report about it other than the fact that our food was extremely hot. I ate my Ebi Katsu burger first then my frys and the frys were still nice and hot. It was awesome.
We went back home to the hotel after a couple hours and have been relaxing and taking naps.
I did have to talk to the front desk about a delivery service for luggage to our Osaka hotel. That was scary. I asked my friend how to ask in Japanese, and I was thinking that I would just say the phrase, they hand me a form and that would be it. Nope. Nope. I was wrong. I asked what I needed in Japanese, and out comes a slew of questions I was not prepared for, and I suddenly knew no Japanese. It was scary. My hands were shaking and I wanted to say nevermind and walk away. But she asked again and slower so I was able to make out what she was saying.
Many people think I am fluent in Japanese. Fluent to me is understanding 100%, I by no means understand 100%. I am lucky if I catch 80% of everyting they say. It's pretty much like "Hotel blah blah blah, when blah blah deliver need?" then I think, "Hmm, she must want to know when I need my luggage to arrive in Osaka." That's exactly what it's like. But if I do not know the verb, then it's all over. The verb goes at the end of the sentence, and if I don't know that, then there is no way I can understand the sentence. It would be like hearing someone say in English "Do You blank the park?" There could be any number of words that it could be. There is no way to know what it means. That's what Japanese is for me. So stop calling me fluent. I am not. At best I am "good" at it or proficient. I will accept proficient. But not fluent. I will dispute that.
Anyhow, I got all the luggage stuff figured out and complimented on my Japanese. So it's all good. Our luggage will be delivered tomorrow to our hotel in Osaka to arrive by Saturday. We still have one small bag, I didn't want that, but what can you do. We need clothes! lol. I don't think the Japanese people will appreciate us being naked.
We plan on going to the Sky Tree tonight. So I might post about that today, but don't be upset if It's not there. Anyway. Buy!
