Monday, June 16, 2008

End of the US Open

*sigh* What a let down.

The traffic was actually better than normal most days. So I decided to stop the project on Thursday due to uninteresting photos. I gotta hand it to the US Open planners. They did a fantastic job with the traffic up here. At the stadium...I'm not so sure. Traffic in Mission valley is dicey at best. Still, they've had lots of practice at Qualcomm.

The Open was pretty good though. Tied on the last shot of regulation play. Followed by another 18 holes tied at the end (deja vu). Followed by a sudden death playoff.

Congratulations to Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate for a fantastic series of Golf.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Day 3/4

Today is the first day of the Qualifying rounds. Traffic around Qualcomm is pretty bad according to the radio. Traffic on the freeway coming in was moderate. Although the bus route into La Jolla (Yes the buses go down Ardath rd La Jolla Pkwy) was pretty bad. It was backed up down the ramps almost to the I-52 when I passed by.

I do have some photos of the trip in and will post them tonight.

I decided to go in via Gilman drive. Gilman was pretty clear. Lots more bicycles today. And then I went up La Jolla Village Dr/ N.Torrey Pines Rd.

That was more what I expected. Phil and Tiger were already on the course when I went in. So I expect traffic through there was a lot heavier a couple of hours earlier.

The other thing I noticed was SDPD. They're all over the place. Writing tickets and towing cars. So if you plan on being in the area, be alert and obey ALL of the signs. Getting towed is expensive and the nearest yard is over by Miramar.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Day 2/3

So it's Wednesday lunch. Things are starting to ramp up a bit. Traffic still isn't above the normal variation... yet. Although the signs are there that it's going to be worse. I'm starting to see a lot more folks wandering off towards the side streets and the Detour signs are starting to appear.

Starting tomorrow I'll be biking in part way to avoid the worst of the expected build ups. So far I have to say "Good Job" the the traffic planners. We'll see how well they did in the next 2 days :)

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

US Open Day 0 and Day 1

Since I work in Torrey Pines I thought it might be a fun (or at least amusing to me) idea to chronicle how the US Open affects my daily commute. What I did was to walk around last Friday and take pictures around the outside of the Golf course at 6pm. Then each day I'll take pictures of my commute and post the interesting ones with commentary about the drive.

Day 0 (Friday)

US Open Torrey Pines-5

The first thing I noticed was all of the myriad signs that have appeared in the last few days. Everything from Extreme delay warnings and No Parking to Shuttle direction signs.

For some reason traffic was extremely light Friday.

US Open Torrey Pines-5

Day 1 (Monday)

Monday was pretty light. I managed to get to work with no problems. I didn't even see any buses.

US Open monday-1

And the evening commute was light as well...or at least no worse than normal :)

US Open monday-2

This morning I didn't take any photos. The Commute and traffic were pretty normal. The only difference was the half dozen or so large buses on I-52.

Now for the bad news.

The tourists are here. On my way out to lunch I saw 4 near accidents and at least 10 major traffic violations before I got to UCSD. And to think I want to ride my bike in with this traffic....

Thursday, May 22, 2008

What I'm planning

I really didn't set out to run a permanent Blog. But I decided that I'll use this as a pace to show off my photography and special events. I'm guessing that anyone who's read this realizes that I'm also Koryu Bugeisha.

For those who don't understand the term. Koryu Bugeisha roughly translates as Traditional warfare practitioner. More simply, trainee Samurai.

So expect to see posts on events for the Jikishin Kai. (I'd also expect posts on other subjects as well)

And I haven't forgotten the lessons learned post :)

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Hotel Review

At long last we get to our promised review of our accommodation's. These notes are taken from the complaints input of my fellow travelers. But they are filtered through me. So on to the data.

Fujita Hotel
city: Kyoto

Good:

Location. Right next to the river. Short walk from several major sites.
Great staff.
Best breakfast of any of the hotels we were at.
Nice rooms. Even with 3 shoehorned in.

Bad:

No internet in the rooms (I know...engineers. Still, everyone likes to check email) Computers are in the lobby - 2 - at 1000 yen for 10 minutes.
2 outlets in the room. And 1 was for the TV.
1000 yen TV cards
1 KEY per room (that's right, no cards)

Emus Business Hotel
Shin-Fuji

Good:

Price! about $50 a night. Cash only though.
Free wireless
Rooms were good for the price. Think Motel 6.
Roof access (view of Mt Fuji)

Bad:

Long walk from the station (not my complaint) and signs were in katakana.
1 Room smelled smoky (cigarettes)
Owner spoke no english (not a problem for us but...)

Takayama Best Western
Takayama

Good:

Great location
Good staff
Good Breakfast

Bad:

Spendy . Well over $100 each a night.
No exchange service (but post office nearby)
Staff spoke little/no english (Yes, I know this is Japan. Still, this is a tourist area)

Comfort Inn Hotel
Toyama

Good:

Location. Close to station.
Clean.
Staff (remembered us and our room numbers right away)

Bad:

1 card per room. With room number on it. (I mean it wasn't a disposable card)
Small rooms.
Pillows were horrible. Weird things about an inch thick...with instructions on how to use them. Still, for some unknown reason Mark liked them.
No exchange service. (in a business hotel? Come on...)

Manten Kanzawa
Kanazawa

Good:

Ummmm.....the Japanese bath on the second floor.
Good staff.

Bad:

Tiny rooms.
No exchange
Expensive breakfast...and POWDERED EGGS for gods sake.
Bit of a walk from the station

Rihga Royal
Kyoto

Good:

Best rooms. Especially at the price :)
Great Staff
Shuttle bus
Biggest tubs
Great location for travelers. (right next to the station)
Really good restaurant (Top of Kyoto) according to Jo. But expensive.

Bad:

1000 yen fee for most services (internet, pool, hot tub, etc...) I think they keep the room cost low but they do it by nickel and dimeing you for services.

So the verdicts are:

Best hotel - Rihga Royal
Best for price - Emus (really)
Stay away from - Manten

Could be better still - Fujita. And all it needs is a bit of moderizing. Like more outlets, wireless access, and keycard doorlocks. Other than that it was great.

So there you have it. That's the quick rundown on the hotels. We all liked the Rihga best. And I'd surely stay there again. If I wanted to be closer to the center of the city I'd probably use the Fujita again. But since I like to take day trips out of the station I prefer the Rihga.

Next post will be lessons learned - 2008 edition.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Home

Just a quick post to let you all know that we're home safely. I'll get the remainder up tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Final day...almost

It's our last full day here. Today we decided to split up and go see whatever we wanted. Becky went to Himeji Ko-koen. Mark to the Philosophers walk. Jo went shopping. And I went to Arashiyama again.

Togetsukyo bridge

I decided that I wanted to take the scenic "Romantic Train" of the Sagano Sight-seeing Tram. Why? Because it looked fun and it runs through the Hozu River gorge. So I bought a ticket and wandered around Arashiyama until train time.

Nonomiya Jinja

So I got on the train. The seats were wood and not very comfortable. And what is it with ticketing? Half the car was empty and the other half was full. So we spread out and enjoyed the trip.

Train car interior

The gorge is a lot smaller that the one I'm used to. The Columbia is a bit bigger than the Hozu :)

Hozu river gorge

And there are a lot fewer rapids on the Columbia as well.

Hozu river gorge

So it was pretty cool to see the River boats shooting the rapids.

Rapids boat

After that was a bit of shopping and then we all met at the station for dinner after Becky got back from Himeji.

So that will pretty much wrap up our trip. Tomorrow is mostly check out, final shopping, travel to the airport and fly home. Once we're back and have had a bit to recover I'll wrap up the trip with the Hotel review (I haven't forgotten) and a set of guidelines for those who might be traveling here in the near future.

See you all in the States :)

Bob

Monday, May 12, 2008

Final days

We're down to our final day and a half. Thank God! We're road weary, sore and are ready to come home :)

We decided to go easy today. The only places we went were to the Imperial Palace and to the Handicraft center. The Imperial Palace is a huge park that includes the Kyoto residence of the Emperor. Think of it as an upscale central park with Royalty. It was very nice and soothing.

Kyoto Imperial Palace

Kyoto Imperial Palace

From there we decided to get lunch. Yes we got a very late start today. The place we found is some kind of new chain. Kinda neat. Best food prices in town so far. And as an added bonus it was pretty good.

I really don't know what to call it...

From there we decided to hit the Kyoto Handicraft center and do some last minute shopping.

Along the way we crossed over the Kano river. Guess what? The raptors are still there. I think we spent an hour watching them play along the river from the bridge.

Raptor

A brief word about the Kyoto Handicraft center. They have some excellent items...and some real crap. (don't buy swords here, go across the street to Meirin or Tozando) The stuff is also a bit overpriced. Still, it's an easy way to pick up items at the last minute, and some of the stuff is pretty good. After a couple of hours there we split. Jo went to the hotel. I followed shortly thereafter. Becky and Mark went to see the Maiko dance at Shimogamo shrine. And ended up seeing part of the upcoming festival.

Funny thing was, they didn't get to see Maiko. But I did. There was one performing in the lobby when I got here. Now if my Iai was half as smooth as she was....

So here are the plans for the last days. Tomorrow we all go separate ways to see things we want to. Wednesday we get until noon before we head for the airport. Then it's homeward bound for us. I'll post tomorrow night and again sometime after we get back. And I recover enough to think :)

And before I forget. Jason, I'll get you directions to the shop that I picked up a Bizen-yaki Muzusashi for a hundred bucks when I get back ;)

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Uji and Nara

Today we decided to take a light day and wander over to Uji. And if we felt like it we thought we might go over to Nara and see Todaiji as well.

So we hopped a local to Uji.

River

The main things for us here where Byodoin, tea shops and pottery. So we scouted out the tourist lady and headed out to Byodoin under gray skies. Fortunately this time it wasn't destined to rain all over me :)

Byodin

It looks like we just missed the flowers. Still It's a beautiful place. We wandered around a bit taking photos and finally got to the Museum. Since the last time (2005) they've finished a restoration of the canopy over the Buddha inside the temple. There was an exhibit of how they did the intricate inlay of mother of pearl. Neat stuff.

Once we finished wandering about we headed across the river to visit a pottery shop. We found out that the potter is a Nat'l treasure. His stuff is exquisite....with a price to match. So, we went to lunch and decided to head over to Nara and see Todaiji.

Todaiji is located in a large park. That park is populated by temple deer. The deer have become habituated to man and the things will eat just about anything. Like toilet paper, clothing, passports, etc...

Deer

It's stuff like this that get tourists in our National Parks hurt and even killed every year. Wild animals are all too east for these folk to think of as what they have back home.

After we escaped the horde of locusts, we headed through the gate.

Main gate leading to Todaiji

And arrived at the temple. To give you an idea of the size of this place, the ants at the bottom of the building are people. This is the largest free standing wooden structure in the world.

Todaiji

Inside the temple is the wooden statue of Buddha.

Buddha at Todaiji

The scale: The thumb is approx. 5'high.

An interesting side note is in one of the pillars. There is a hole there carved to the size of one of the Buddhas nostril holes. It's said that going through this hole cleanses you of all sins (or something to that effect). Last time Mark was here he crawled through...barely. So in a fit of ... whatever, Mark decided to do it again. Even though he's older, and bigger. Well, see for yourself.

Todaiji

Mark

A VERY tight fit. But he made it...this time. Becky missed this turn of events so we had to explain it to her. The final explanation was along the lines of "Mark fit through a hole the size of the Buddhas nostril". And now all she can see whenever she looks at a picture of the statue is Mark coming out of the statues nostril like...well, you get the picture :)

After this we decided to call it a day and head back. Only to see this once we hit the gate.

Todaiji

Yup, a whole city blocks worth of kids. With about the same amount behind us. This is common during this time of year as the kids get to go to historical places for school.

After a harrowing escape ;) we started to wander back to the station. Only to find our way to a second hand store. Since none of us are capable of passing something like this up we went in. Somehow I don't think that the owners really understood all of what they had. I found a Bizen ware Mizu-hashi for 1/6th of the normal price. And that was only one of MANY things there. Now that I know where it is I'll be going back again next trip.

That'll be it for tonight. Tomorrow we'll be staying in town.

Happy Mothers day Mom.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Another rainy day...

Today's trip was to Iseshi. Well it was supposed to be.

The day started out by going to Nagoya and switching to the JR train to Iseshi. We ended up with a 1 hour layover (that we later found could have been avoided). The trip cost an additional 490 yen because the train uses another railways line for a bit.

Boy, I was really glad we planned for cold and rain. The farther we got from Nagoya the darker the clouds got. We ended up rolling through misty, rain shrouded hills. Wisps of clouds caught in the treetops as rain dimpled the streams and pods as we passed by. Everywhere we looked there were greening fields of newly planted rice.

Ise fields

And unfortunately for me the camera wants to auto-focus on the rain spotted glass instead of the afore mentioned scenery :)

Train ride

After about 2 1/2 hours we arrived in Iseshi. Only to find out that to see the Pearl museum (Jo's destination of choice) we needed to be in Toba. 4 stops further on. The fun thing was that while we had half an hour to kill, there was a street market just a few yards from the station. So we wandered around a bit, were accosted by the local International society, and got some lunch. Then, off to Toba.

The place we were going to was Mikimoto Pearl Island. The basic story is that he was one of the first to set things up for the cultured pearl industry. And if you like pearls you'd be in heaven here. Any question you might have about how pearls are formed, found, etc... can be answered by someone here. The sheer amount of pearls on display is mind boggling. And there are tons on display...from 60 yen to over 36,000,000 yen (that's $360,000) for one the size of a Quail egg.

The other attraction here is the Ama.

Ama

Ama are the women who dive for oysters. Those of us who are old enough will remember them from Sea World. It was really cool to see them dive again. However, It is almost finished. Pearls are now cultured on rafts and no diving is required.

So, after the show we were at a loss for something to do until our train arrived. So we went to the Toba Aquarium. I'm not sure what I expected...but this place sure wasn't it. First it was huge. Second, the number of species that where on display was phenomenal. While the Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the best, this place holds it's own. Not as nice or animal friendly. Still it really does a nice job.

A few of the things we got to see where:

Manatees

Manatee

Leafy Sea Dragons

Leafy Sea Dragon

Cones

Conus sp.

one of these

Ummm... thing

deep water specimens

Nautilus

and giant dinner..ummm...lobsters

Giant Lobster

We could easily have spent most of the day just in the aquarium. Still, we had to come "home". So on the trip we decided that tomorrow will be a trip to Uji.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Hiroshima and Himeji

We leave for Ise/Toba in a few so this will be short.

Yesterday we went to Hiroshima. Becky wanted to see the Peace park. There really isn't much I can say to those who haven't been there. Just go.

Atomic Dome Windows in the Dome

This trip has been full of surprises. When we arrived in Himeji it was really busy. We didn't think much of it until we hit the castle. It looked like a holiday. We found out that the National Sweets Exposition was being held there. Big crowds. I'm glad we got there late or we wouldn't have been able to move. The only disappointing note was that all of the big crowd barriers where in place so we couldn't wander freely. Still, it was a nice change from Hiroshima and everyones spirits were lifted.

Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Arashiyama

Today was new for everyone...except me. As I mentioned yesterday, we decided to go to Arashiyama today. And we managed to hit every place on out list except for Diakakuji. I have so many photos I had to switch cards after Ryoanji. So with no further ado, off to our tour.

To day we started early. we left the hotel about 8 and headed for the local train to Arashiyama. For those thinking of going there take the JR west platforms 32 or 33. Since the train leaves off in the middle of the neighborhood (I take us to the most exciting places) we had to walk a bit to get to Tenryuji. I thought I should get everyone oriented so we headed out to the bridge.

Arashiyama - bridge

Arashiyama

After playing there for a few minutes we decided that we'd go to Tenryuji, the Bamboo forest and back to the main drag for some shopping and lunch.

Tenryuji is a temple complex with wonderful gardens.

Tenryuji

The main garden goes around to the back of the temple and you can exit out of the north side into the Bamboo groves. The main path takes you up the side of the hill to the back gate and then brings you back to the pond and out through the main gate. The flowers were in bloom here as well. Although the rhododendrons are starting to die out. There is even wildlife.

Tenryuji

After a bit we wandered out the north gate and headed into the forest. I hope that my shot giv you some idea what it was like. The bamboo stretches up to 40-50 ft and goes back as far as tou can see...not that that's very far :)

Bamboo Forest

Bamboo Forest

The new shoots are coming in and are about 12" around and grow very fast. They start out black and loose their outer leaf as the grow. A guide was explaining that they have to watch out under some of the houses because the shoots can push through the floor and roof it not caught in time.

Tenryuji

We wandered back to the river and then down to the bridge for lunch and shopping. And then we headed out to Ryoanji. We decided to skip both Diakakuji and Ninnaji this time around. Although may go back and see them on my own at the end. I think I'd like to get to the Imperial palace on this trip as well.

As we entered Ryoanji I noticed something was off. The pond had been drained. It looked like a big mud hole (ok, it was a big mud hole). Looks like they were repairing something on the upper side.

Ryoanji

Still, the main attraction is the Abbots garden.

Ryoanji

This is supposed to be the best example of a dry landscape garden. It's neat, but unlike those who do little more than gaze rapturously at a pile of rocks (no matter how pretty they are) and try for enlightenment (along with a hundred or so tourists around) I was done after about 5 minutes.

Maybe I'm too cynical but enlightenment can't be attained by staring at a bunch of rocks. Get a teacher and a life folks. From all I've read an been told, the only way to get enlightened is to study, study, study and push yourself. Sorry, rant off. I guess there's something about some of the people who go to this place that sets me on edge. It would probably be best then if I don't go there again :)

So, cynicism well in hand we went on to Kinkakuji. This time the Iris' were in bloom. I don't know what is is about his place, but every time I come here it gets better. Maybe next time I'll try in fall or winter. I'll just let the photo tell the story here.

Kinkakuji

When we left Jo decided she had had enough for one day and headed for the barn. The rest of us decided to visit a calligraphy shop near the Fujita and to stop at a Hirishimayaki bar we'd found in the Teramachi.

The Hiroshimayaki place is called Takeya and it's address is ... in kanji. Crap. Well, lets make it simple, Just circle the The Teramatchi and look for the food stand with the vacuum packed turtles and turn in there. Alternately, you can enter the Teramatchi from the Fujita hotel side and turn left toward the Police office. Or you can wait until I can get someone to translate it :)

The place sits a dozen along the bar which is really one big griddle. It really is a locals type place but they have been very welcoming to us and even have a rudimentary English menu. The food is fantastic. There are few places here I would go to twice or more in a trip. This is one I'd do again.

I'd bore you with the details of the trip back to the hotel but I really don't want to type them out. So you'll just have to imagine it :)

Tomorrow will be an early day for Mark, Becky and I. We're going to Hiroshima and Himeji while Jo takes a day off to go shopping before we go to the Pearl place on the coast.

Later.

P.S. I just finished the first cut of todays photos. 104. You guys get 12. And I don't think I want DSL. Upload speed sucks.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Wiped out

Today is our first whole day in Kyoto. So we decided to take the 100 Raku tourist bus towards Ginkakuji. Since we figured most places wouldn't open until 9 we left about 8:30ish.

Our first stop was Sanjusangen-do. It was established in 1482. The temple houses 1000 Kannon (statues of Buddha) and the most complete set of 28 deities in the world. The statues where made between the 12th and 14th centuries. The work is incredible. The expressions are so real it seems that they could come to life at any time. Even the eyes are made from crystal.

You'll have to look up official photos since there is no photography inside the hall.

Some of you have probably heard about the archery that takes place on the porch. Well, it still does.

Sanjusangendo porchSanjusangendo porch

I finally figured out which end they used because of this:

Sanjusangen-do porch

The record is something like 18000+ shots and 13000+ hits in 24 hours. When you see the porch and realize the low arc that must be used...Well, I couldn't do it:) And to really get a feel for it pace off the 120 meters length of the porch....

Our next stop would have been Kiyumizu. But we decided to skip it today and go to Heian shrine. Yeah, I know that I was there last week. Still, Becky hadn't seen it and Jo hadn't been there in 7 years. I sometimes forget what a difference a week makes.

Heian shrine IrisesHeian shrine Lotus

Heian shrine Lotus

With the Iris' and lotus blooming and nobody there it was a completely different place. I think we took over an hour to stroll through the garden. It was rejuvenating. Especially after the crowds everywhere else.

When we finished Mark and I took the ladies to see the Budo center and Butokuden. from there we just had to go to Meirin and Tozando. Since Mark and I had already been there we let Becky and Jo have at it.

About now we decided to have lunch and to head to Ginkakuji and maybe to even try for Kinkakuji. (although we pooped out and made an early day of it)

Unfortunately for us the Kannonden (2 storied building in all the photos) was being renovated. It was kinda neat to see the structure of the building but a bummer for taking photos :)

Still, there is always good photos to be taken there.

Ginshadan and Kogesudai

Ginkakuji

Ginshadan from above

So we finally ended up going back to the station and raiding the basement of Isetan for food. One small surprise has been the price of food. The average price for a meal 3 yeas ago was about 1200 yen. Now it's closer to 1600. Makes a bit of a dent in the food budget.

Oh, Mark just gave me reindeer droppings. So it seems I still get feed crap over here as well ;)

I'm working on the review of the hotels. Everyone has input. So probably tomorrow. After we go to Arashiyama, Kinkakuji, Daikakuji, Roanji and the Teramachi.