Kyoto

Lady in a kimono
Originally uploaded by raindrop52.

Kyoto is a breathtaking and captivating city in Japan. Despite having spent only a day there, we managed to spot a geisha, eat traditional food, take some beautiful pictures of the mountains, temples, and shrines, and reward ourselves with some green tea ice cream. Stephanie and I came to the realization that the bus is a truly affordable mode of transportation, and you can hit up dozens of temples and shrines by taking different bus routes, all for 500 yen in one day. I'm a huge fan of Kyoto.

For the past week, we've eaten Japanese food everyday. Now, some of you may know that I love food, and love taking pictures of food. Japanese food is one of my favorites, so I could more than survive in this country. However, if you are on the Atkins diet or South Beach diet, or whatever cool, hip low-carb diet the current hot celeb is on, you'll be left with good sashimi and seaweed, but missing out on ramen, udon, tempura, and much more. Look around, and people aren't obese or overweight like the 60%+ that are in the states. That's because, as you've rightly guessed, they have a tangible sense of portion sizes. Like Chinese food, there is a ton of variety in one meal. But, somewhat different from the Chinese cuisine, portion sizes are a lot smaller (as shown in the pic). Plus, man, do they walk a lot! And do they sweat a lot! Within an hour of the time I stepped out of Andrew's AC-ed apartment, it'd feel like I was in an outdoor sauna.

Anyway, Americans need to eat more like the Japanese. But there are still many smokers in Japan. There were hardly any non-smoking restaurants, nor restaurants that divided smokers and non-smokers. It's a shame.

I'm quite impressed with ourselves that we've been able to get around Japan without many issues. Being able to read the kanji is extremely helpful, but I think we've mastered a few vocabulary words and head nods. I guess I'm not totally lost in translation, but I am looking forward to arriving in China, where I can finally understand and speak the language (some would beg to differ, namely, my mom).