Oahu Tourist Attractions Actually Worth Your Time and Money

Hawaii can be an expensive place to travel. It seems like no matter where you go, there will be someone there to sell you something, be it some overpriced snorkeling gear rentals or a boat ride with no guarantee of seeing the wildlife you wanted to see. You definitely have to be picky about where you budget your spending, and these are a few Oahu attractions we visited that I think are actually worth your money…

Pearl Harbor Attractions

If you are at all interested in World War II history, the Pearl Harbor attractions are a must-see. The actual Pearl Harbor exhibits and USS Arizona Memorial are free to visit (Memorial is free but requires tickets that can be booked in advance), with audio guides available for $7.50. In addition, there are three other museums in the same area that can be combined to make a full day trip. 

USS Arizona Memorial

We opted to make it a day trip, getting the $65 Passport to Pearl Harbor that got us into all four attractions with one pass. It’s a pretty good deal since the full price of each piece combined would amount to $71.50, but if you only have a few hours to spare, in addition to the free USS Arizona Memorial, I’d recommend spending them at the Bowfin Submarine Museum. For only $12 you can enter the museum and also take a tour of a real submarine, audio guide included. It’s a really neat experience if you’ve never been inside a submarine before.

Inside the submarine

Oahu Photography Tours

You may be thinking, why would I spend money on a photography tour when I can just explore and take photos on my own? Of course that is always an option, but we found Oahu Photography Tours to be a great experience and well worth the money for a couple reasons. First, our tour guide Alex knew all the best locations to take photos, from the more well-known beaches to the random side streets that you would never find on a tourist map. Second, as a long-time photographer himself, Alex was very knowledgable about different types of cameras and photo composition, and was able to provide some helpful tips to everyone in the group, personalizing based on each person’s camera and experience level. I would recommend giving it a try for anyone interested in getting nice photos (and willing to wake up at the crack of dawn for the sunrise tours), ideally towards the beginning of your vacation so the tour can also serve as an introduction to Oahu.

Start of the sunrise tour

Visiting the less populated scenic beaches

Polynesian Cultural Center

The PCC is a one-of-a-kind attraction that’s part theme park and part museum. The main part of the park consists of a large piece of land separated into six “villages”, each representing a different Polynesian culture - Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Fiji, Aotearoa, and Hawaii. Each village is staffed by people native to those places who put on performances and run hands-on activities, giving an general introduction of their culture to visitors. We chose to get the ticket packages that also include a luau dinner and post-dinner “Broadway-style” show. I found the entire cultural center to be really worthwhile. If you have a day to spare in your itinerary and you are at all interested in learning about Polynesian culture, I would highly recommend it.

Hula dancers from Hawaii

Learning how to make fire like the Samoans

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions about these attractions (or suggestions for others you recommend!) in the comments below, and look out for my next post on some of our favorite food on the island!

Vacationing on the Cheap (Free) in Washington DC

The last stop we made on our winter break trip was the DC area. We spent some of our time there visiting and hanging out with M’s relatives, but we also had an opportunity to do some sightseeing. The great thing about Washington DC is how much you can see without ever paying an admission fee. All the Smithsonian museums and the monuments on the National Mall are free to visit, a pleasant change from the high prices of NYC.

Washington Monument on the National Mall

One of the Smithsonian institutions we visited was the National Zoological Park. It was a decent sized zoo, and the abnormally warm weather at the end of December meant that we actually saw a lot of animals out and about. We made sure to visit the panda exhibit because that was the whole point of visiting, and I was pretty impressed with their setup. We were able to see three different pandas, each with their own large habitat. It was amusing to see that despite the separation their behavior was largely the same - beeline towards food, snatch it up, then turn away from the throngs of tourists and start munching.

Panda at the National Zoo

Another big one we visited was the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The exhibits were pretty nice, but it would have been nicer if we weren’t tripping over strollers every few steps. It’s one of the more family/kid oriented museums, so I guess it tends to be more crowded with families. We found some relative peace and quiet in the Special Exhibits section, which actually turned out to be our favorite exhibit in the museum. They were displaying some of the winning photos of a nature photography competition, and the photos were nothing short of breathtaking. We spent a good hour or so just walking around, looking at all the photos, before going back to the regular exhibits.

The special photography exhibit at the Museum of Natural History

We also made a brief stop at the National Portrait Gallery in downtown. It ended up being a lot bigger than we expected, and I would definitely recommend more than the one hour we had to look around. The building is divided into two halves - the actual portrait gallery section, and the more traditional art museum. We spent the bulk of our time in the portrait gallery, where the installations ranged from portrait paintings of historical figures to modern day photographs of the important people of today. I found the modern photos to be interesting, maybe because it’s not typical of what you would find in other museums. The top floor was dedicated to modern art, and also contained a lot of unique pieces worth seeing.

Modern art at the Portrait Gallery

The last museum we visited was the National Air and Space Museum. We ended up going to the one next to the Dulles airport instead of the one on the National Mall because apparently the Dulles one is bigger and has more actual planes. I can believe it - the museum was huge, with literally hundreds of planes and spacecraft on display. Some of the highlights included a full size blackbird and the space shuttle Discovery. The tour we joined ended up being a bit long - about 2 hours - but contained great information and hit on all the highlights and more.

Lots of planes at the Air and Space Museum

Next time I visit the DC area, I definitely want to explore some of the other Smithsonian museums. There are nineteen Smithsonian museums total, and I’ve only seen four so far (in recent memory), so there’s still much more to see. If possible, I’d also like to tour some of the federal government buildings. Many, such as the White House, can only be entered by securing reservations in advance. But for the price of $0, it’s something that shouldn’t be missed.

Reliving the Revolution in Philadelphia

As the original capital of the United States, many noteworthy historical events happened in Philadelphia in the early years of the nation. A lot of important sites are now housed within the Independence National Historical Park, a collection of buildings and grounds spanning much of the old town district. 

Liberty Bell 

We spent a few days in Philly last week, and since we only had one real full day in the city, we decided to loosely follow the 1-day itinerary featured in my AAA guidebook. We started the day by heading over to the Independence Visitor Center right at 8:30 when it opened. There, we watched a slightly corny intro video because nothing else was open yet. After the video finished, we headed next door to the Liberty Bell Center. There was a mini museum there detailing the history of the bell, and then at the end of the hall the famed bell itself. It was a nice little exhibit that didn’t take much more than half an hour.

Independence Hall

The bell center exit was almost right next to our next stop, Independence Hall. We jumped on one of the free half hour tours of the building, and got to see the old meeting rooms and offices of all three branches of government. The tour deposited us behind the building, in a little square with access to various other buildings. One of the other buildings was Congress Hall where we took another guided tour, this time of the old House and Senate chambers.

Cheesesteak from Ishkabibble's

By this time we were getting hungry so we went to get lunch at, of course, a Philly cheesesteak place. After lunch we headed over to the opposite side of the park to see the National Constitution Center, a large museum dedicated to all aspects of the Constitution. I was a little skeptical at first about how you could make an entire museum about one document, but there were actually a lot of great exhibits there. The main attraction was a live dramatic narration of the founding, followed by a huge exhibit talking about the nation’s history and how different events led to various amendments to the Constitution. 

National Constitution Center

After visiting the Constitution Center we walked around the old town a bit, looking at Christ Church and the Betsy Ross House from the outside (they closed early for Christmas eve so we couldn’t actually go inside). We also took a stroll down Elfreth’s Alley, a cute little street that has retained the old 18th century style of architecture. By this time everything was closing, so we went and had a nice sushi dinner at Morimoto’s, the product of a former Iron Chef contestant, and then went for a walk around the Penn’s Landing waterfront to see the nice holiday decorations.

Sushi at Morimoto

View of the waterfront

Philadelphia may be somewhat overshadowed by NYC in terms of sheer number of attractions, but it’s still a big city with a rich culture and lots to see. I hope to make it back someday to explore it more thoroughly.

Historical Day Trips Around Upstate New York

As one of the original thirteen colonies, New York has numerous historically significant points of interest dating back to the founding of the nation. Many battles from the revolutionary war were fought around the area, and countless historical figures made their homes in New York and the surrounding states. Lots of these historical sites have been preserved as state parks or tourist attractions, providing ample day trip opportunities for the history buffs. What follows are a few of my recommended historical places to visit in upstate New York and nearby in Vermont.

Main house at Hildene

Hildene

Located in Manchester, Vermont, Hildene is the family home of Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s son. The house was purchased from the Lincoln family by a non-profit, and is now open for tourists to visit. Self-guided tour of the house takes less than an hour, but one could spend a full day exploring the entire estate. An extensive network of walking trails connects one point of interest to the next. Two of my favorite points on the estate were the Pullman car and the goat farm. An original Pullman train luxury car is open for visitors to walk through and admire. We used the free shuttle service to go from there to the goat farm on the far side of the estate, where you can learn about the cheese making process and pet some goats. There’s a lot to do, and I would recommend at least a half day to get the most out of a visit to Hildene.

Petting goats at the goat farm

Inside Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga

Many battles from both the French and Indian and the Revolutionary Wars were fought at Fort Ticonderoga. The fort, located about two hours north of Albany, has been rebuilt and restored over the years to function now as a living museum. In addition to the indoor exhibits featuring historical artifacts from the revolutionary era, the fort staff give tours and demonstrations all throughout the day. 

Musket firing demonstration

Beside the obligatory full-fort tour, my top recommendation would be the musket firing demonstration which takes place several times a day. Several staff members dressed up in military uniforms show firing line formations and musket reloading and firing. When we went the garden was already past peak, but I would also recommend the garden tour during peak season. Ticonderoga is another feature filled attraction that would best be visited for at least a half day, if not a full day.

View from the top of Bennington Monument

Bennington Monument

At over 200 feet high, the Bennington Monument towers over the town of the same name. The monument commemorates the Battle of Bennington from the Revolutionary War, and features some exhibits in the small museum at the base of the tower. But I’m highlighting this mostly because of the awesome view at the top. For $5 you can take a ride to the observatory at the top of the monument, where you can see parts of Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts. Visiting the monument shouldn’t take more than an hour or so, but you can combine it with other nearby attractions (such as the Bennington Museum) for a full day trip.

Artwork from the Bennington Museum

Saratoga National Historic Park

Comprised of four distinct areas of interest, the Saratoga National Historic Park is a full day attraction. The main part of the park is the battlefield. Visitors have the option of exploring the battlefield on car or bike on the main paved self-guiding tour road, or on foot via the many walking trails throughout the park. The road takes you to various historical points, including battle sites, monuments, and old army occupied buildings. I chose to drive the tour road, and it took me roughly four hours to see everything, plus another hour spent at the visitor center at the beginning of the road. 

Cannons around the battlefield

A few miles north of the battlefield is the Schuyler House, where General Philip Schuyler lived. Hour-long tours run throughout the day. Northwest of the Schuyler House is the Saratoga Monument and Victory Woods. By the time I got this far, the monument was already closed for the day, but there was still enough sunlight to take a quick walk through the Victory Woods trail. The trail was about half a mile one way, and included various signs you could read about General Burgoyne’s last stand in those very woods. Overall it was a nice, relatively cheap (I only had to pay $5 for the battlefield - everything else was free) day trip, and highly recommended for anyone in the area with an interest in history.

The monument I didn't get to go up

Freedom and Seafood in Boston

As one of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston has a tremendous amount of historical attractions to occupy the millions of tourists that visit every year. Last weekend a friend and I met up in Boston and went sightseeing together. She’s Canadian, but we decided to walk the Freedom Trail anyway.

Freedom!

The trail starts at the visitor center in the Boston Common, and winds through the city, taking you to over twenty different historical sites and ending across the Charles River at Bunker Hill. Even though it’s officially only 2.5 miles in length, we made numerous detours, walking around at many of the sites, and ended up walking for a good four hours. Not exactly the most leisurely stroll, but well worth the effort if you are at all interested in history. 

I for one found myself wishing I remembered more of high school US history as we continued along the trail. A few of the sites required admission fees, but there were also plenty of free ones. Among them were a bunch of churches of various denominations, and burying grounds containing some familiar names. We were able to find the gravestones of John “City on a Hill” Winthrop, Paul “The British are Coming” Revere, and John “My Name is Bigger Than Yours” Hancock. 

The whole Winthrop clan

About halfway through the trail we stopped for lunch at Quincy Market, a large narrow building housing food stalls and restaurants as far as the eye can see. It was a madhouse in there, like going to a Taipei night market on a weekend. One would think every tourist in Boston was there, but for good reason - I counted at least five seafood stalls selling lobster rolls and the famous New England chowder, as well as many others serving items as varied as pad thai and bagel pizzas. Finding seating was a bit of a challenge; we ended up eating at a standing table. All part of the Boston experience, I guess.

Baked clams from Quincy Market

One of the most interesting stops along the Freedom Trail was the Charlestown Navy Yard towards the end of the day, a large harbor area north of the Charles River. Front and center was the USS Constitution “Old Ironsides” herself, open for tourists to walk around on deck free of charge. The USS Constitution Museum was right next door, also with free admission (though accepting donations). I found the museum to be very impressive, with well curated and informative exhibits containing a good amount of interactivity. Unfortunately we got there just 15 minutes before closing, as we definitely could have spent a good amount of time there.

Old Ironsides in for restoration

The next day, some kind friends took me on a tour of Harvard University, actually the first Ivy League school I’ve ever visited. It was suitably impressive, especially the giant pillared main library and the majestic gothic style Memorial Hall towards the middle of campus. Though I think I was most impressed by simply how clean and well maintained all the buildings were. Harvard is one of the oldest universities in the country, but the campus was pristine. Such is the difference between public and private schools.

Looks like Hogwarts

Overall, I enjoyed my first taste of Boston. I really liked how walkable the city was, and how convenient the public transit was to use. Last weekend was a great introduction to the area, and I look forward to my next visit!

- MC 8/4

Ships and History in Halifax

We ended our train journey across the eastern stretches of Canada in Halifax, a port city known for its history and lobsters. In many ways, Halifax almost reminds me of San Francisco, with its ample selection of seafood restaurants and waterfront establishments swarming with tourists. But as an older city that had taken an active role in numerous international events in the past, I found the historical buildings and attractions in Halifax to be much more interesting and impressive.

Famous Halifax seafood

Similar to Quebec City, Halifax also has a star-shaped Citadel built on the highest hill overlooking the city. These fortifications were also built by the British, but were intended to be used in defense against the French. The Citadel in Halifax seemed a little smaller than the one in Quebec, but boasted equally impressive features. A tall wall and deep ditch surround the entire fort, meaning any attackers would, after charging up a steep hill, have to drop 20 feet into the ditch and climb 40 feet up a sheer wall before making it into the fort’s interior, all the while being shot at by snipers on both sides. The inside of the fort contains storehouses and sleeping quarters, giving it the ability to be self sufficient in the case of a siege. It appears just as impenetrable as the Quebec citadel, but we’ll never know how it would have actually held up in battle, because like the other fort, this one has never been attacked. In fact, the only time the Citadel ever functioned as a defensive structure for the city was during the Halifax Explosion of 1917. 

Standing in the ditch of the Citadel

It was the height of World War I, and the French cargo ship, the Mont-Blanc, was on its way across the ocean loaded with explosives. Before heading east back to France, they were to make a stop in Halifax. The big ship barely fit in Halifax harbor, and due to miscommunication, the Mont-Blanc collided with the Imo, a Norwegian ship headed in the opposite direction out the harbor. Fire quickly spread across the carnage, resulting in a massive explosion that wiped out the entire east side of the city. The Citadel however, stood firm, protecting the rest of the city behind it from the blast.

The Halifax Explosion is the subject of one of the many exhibits at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Other exhibits featured model ships with exquisite detail crafted by local hobbyists, and a real full-sized ship outside that was free to explore with museum admission. Also featured was a whole exhibit about the Titanic and the aftermath its disastrous journey, of which I was surprised Halifax played such a large role.

Intricate model ships at the museum

After the Titanic sank, rescue ships quickly set out to bring the survivors to New York, the original intended destination. The bodies of the victims however, were sent to Halifax. Halifax was the closest port city to the wreckage that had relatively easy access to the rest of the continent via railroad. After the bodies were identified, they could be sent to their families for burial. Of course, only the families of the first class passengers could afford the shipping costs, so many of the bodies ended up being buried right in Halifax. During our city tour, our guide took us to Fairview Cemetery, where most of the victims were buried. It was interesting hearing the stories he had to tell us about certain individuals buried there, but also sad to think about the tragedy that had befallen all those people. Many of the tombstones were simply labeled with the date of the disaster and a number, the body unable to be identified, destined to rest there forever in anonymity. 

Grave marker at the Fairview Cemetery, inspiration for the character Jack Dawson

Having gone through the US school system, I learned a lot about American history, but not much about the rest of the world. My favorite part about this past trip was learning about the rich histories of each stop, visiting monuments from a different time, and hearing stories about the lives of people past and present. There are many things that we didn’t have time to get to during our stays in Montreal, Quebec, and Halifax, and discover more stories yet untold.

- MC 6/27

Forts and Castles in Quebec City

The capital of Quebec province, Quebec City, is a curious little tourist destination. The city consists of a few distinct regions, the most visited of which are the Upper and Lower Old Towns. Upper Old Town sits on a massive hill with sheer cliffs on the river-facing side, separating it physically from the lower town and making it an optimally defensible location. 

Entrance to the Citadel

It’s no wonder that the British decided to build a military fort there during their rule. On the highest point of the city is The Citadel, a collection of military buildings surrounded by a star-shaped protective wall. Today, the Citadel is part active military base, and part museum, open to the public for tours multiple times a day. Our tour guide gave us an excellent overview on the background of the place, explaining that the British built the Citadel as a precaution after warded off two previous attacks by the Americans (“those nasty Americans!”). The walls were built in a star formation to ensure that there were no blind spots anywhere approaching the fort. Add that to their highly advantageous position, and it would have been almost impossible to take Quebec using 19th century weaponry. In fact, the Citadel has the proud distinction of never having been defeated. Granted, no one has ever tried.

Majestic Chateau Frontenac

The Citadel is widely regarded as one of the must-see tourist spots in Quebec City. Chateau Frontenac is one of the other ones. Resembling a castle in both size and structure, Chateau Frontenac is a luxury hotel built about the same time as the railroads in an effort to attract visitors to the city. Today, the Chateau is the place to stay for people looking for the 5-star experience and willing to pay the 5-star price. It’s also a popular photo spot for those of us who are too cheap to actually stay there.

Poutine from Chez Ashton

Much of the charm of Quebec City comes from the European style cobblestone streets in the Upper Old Town, lined with small boutiques and restaurants. It’s a great place for shopping and food, and we definitely ate our share of local and regional foods. Right next to our hotel was Chez Ashton, a fast food joint native to Quebec and famous for their poutine. For the price and speed of service, the poutine was quite satisfactory, and way better than most fast food places we have in the US. Just down the street from there was Les Delices de l’Erable (Canadian Maple Delights), a store selling every maple product imaginable. There was maple mustard, maple jelly, even maple lotions and soaps all available for sampling, and also a gelato bar where you could taste maple flavored gelato. Most of the restaurants we ate at also had maple pie available for dessert. I thought the maple pie was really good - it was similar to pumpkin pie but had a sightly grainier texture and obviously a more syrupy taste. If only they had maple pie back home too.

Maple pie!

After a day and a half in Quebec City, we got on a sleeper train for the 20+ hour journey to Halifax, Nova Scotia, our next destination. Our time in Quebec was brief, but enjoyable, and I hope to have the opportunity to return someday. For now, we leave the French-Canadian culture to experience the Anglophone parts of the country.

- MC 6/25

Temple Life in Koyasan

Koyasan is similar to Mecca and Jerusalem in that devout Japanese Buddhists will make the journey from all over the country to come pay their respects. In the old days, pilgrims would come in on foot, using one of the many trails leading up to the mountain. Nowadays, Koyasan is relatively easy to access through a couple of train transfers. Following the train ride to the foot of the peak is a short five minute cable car ride to the top, going up a steep fifty degree incline, and then a bus ride into town.

Daimon, the former main entrance to Koyasan

We found that Koyasan the town was not quite as remote and isolated as we expected. Many giant tour buses clogged up the narrow streets, and there were countless restaurants and souvenir shops wherever we looked. There were also many temples all over the town. It turns out all of the temples were operating as hotels, similar to the temple we were staying at. They are staffed by resident monks who also conduct morning ceremonies open to guests staying at the temple. 

Night view of the temple we stayed at

We didn’t wake up early enough for the morning ceremonies, but we did have a special vegetarian dinner and breakfast at the temple. The meals were served on a long table which we shared with all the other guests staying at our temple. Each person got a box containing multiple small dishes, ranging from tofu to miso soup to stone pot vegetables. The meals contained no meat and were extremely healthy, but we all agreed that they were very delicious and satisfying.

Group dinner prepared by the monks

The temple facilities themselves were very unique compared to anything outside of Japan. You took off your shoes before entering the temple, and the entire building consisted of wooden hallways, rooms lined with tatami mats, and a public bath containing very hot water. The guest rooms included mattresses rolled out directly on the tatami mats, a space heater (night was bone-chilling cold), and surprisingly fast internet. Overall the rooms were very comfortable, and I’m almost starting to prefer tatami mat beds over traditional western mattresses.

The main attraction we went to outside of the temple was the Okunoin, a stone path surrounded by tombstones that led up to a massive Buddhist temple. Most of the tombstones were small, just made for normal families who happened to be able to afford it. As we went higher up the path, we encountered some tombstones dedicated to more well known historical figures, including the famous Oda Nobunaga. Nobunaga’s tombstone was much larger than the individual family tombs, but still quite modest looking considering his role in history.

Oda Nobunaga's tombstone

The temple at the top was evidently the main destination for Japanes Buddhist pilgrims, as we had the opportunity to witness a group at the temple performing of the mountain was very large, though more impressive was the number of lanterns hanging in one of the main buildings. The lanterns all contained writing on them, indicating who had made the donation and a short message from the donor. They were also all numbered, which was how we deduced that there were at least 9000 lanterns in the building. Fortunately someone had decided to replace the candles in the lanterns with lightbulbs to avoid the whole temple burning down like it had multiple times in the past.

Koyasan was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the cities, even with all the other tourists around the sightseeing points. For the last part of our journey, we will return to the big cities. We’re currently on a train (several trains, actually) out of Koyasan and into Osaka, where we will stay one day and night before returning to Tokyo.

- MC 4/17

Shrines and City Life in Kyoto

As one of the former capitals of Japan, Kyoto has one of the highest densities of historical sites out of all the large cities. We stayed two days in Kyoto, but definitely could have spent more time here. Kyoto can be divided into several areas - northern, southern, eastern, western, and central Kyoto. Because of the limited time, we focused on visiting just the southern, northern, and central areas, and by no means exhausted all the options there.

One of our favorite places collectively as a group was the Inari Shrine in southern Kyoto. A short train ride from the main station, Inari is nestled on a lush mountainside just far enough removed to provide an aura of spirituality. The foot of the mountain was very crowded with tourists and tourist traps, but the farther you hike up the trail, the less people there are. Near the top of the mountain, there were so few people that we were able to get some great uninterrupted shots of the long lines of Torii Gates, what Inari is famous for. Our resident Buddhism expert explained that the gates represented a separation from the mundane to the spiritual, and that as you walk through the gates you are going from a state of bad to a state of good. Considering the sheer number of gates we passed through, we must have been close to saint status by the time we reached the top.

Torii gates at Inari

For the northern Kyoto segment of our stay, we visited the Kinkakuji Temple and the Ryoanji Temple. The Kinkakuji Temple is mostly famous for the main building, the Golden Pavilion, covered in many leaves of gold foil. The Ryoanji Temple is most known for a rock garden within the temple, which apparently has lasted hundreds of years. Everything was very aesthetically pleasing, and I could see the rock garden as a good place for meditation and contemplation in the old days when the whole temple wasn’t filled with tourists. We were elbow to elbow with other people in a lot of the places and it was raining that day, so we didn’t end up spending that much time at those attractions.

View of Kinkakuji Temple

There is a street in central Kyoto that houses Nishiki Market, where vendors set up shop along a long stretch of road and sell all sorts of edibles, from green tea ice cream to wasabi plants. We tried some grilled seafood on a stick, which was excellent, and bulgogi flavored takoyaki, which was acceptable, and then had an actual lunch at a cafe serving omelette rice and ice cream sundaes. Connecting to the main Nishiki Market street was a more modern looking outdoor mall where we spent a lot of time (mostly window) shopping and even more time playing games at an arcade we found. They had an entire section of the floor dedicated to just music games, and the best thing was that we were able to find songs from games and anime we’ve heard of. There were also a lot of pachinko machines which we mostly avoided, claw machines, real time strategy games, trading card game machines, and a small Puzzles and Dragons corner. If they had arcades like this at home, I could easily see myself spending way too much time and money there, which is why it’s probably a good thing they don’t have these there.

Seafood skewer from Nishiki Market

One of the more unique experiences we had in Kyoto was actually not related to sightseeing. We attended a sake tasting event hosted by our hotel, led by a licensed sake sommelier who gave a short presentation on the different categories of sake followed by a tasting of several different kinds. Having never found a sake I liked before this, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I actually enjoyed some of the ones we tasted. Sake can be broadly categorized using a matrix in which one axis represents light vs. strong and the other one dry vs. sweet. I tended to gravitate toward the light and sweet ones, of which there were actually a couple to choose from. Another interesting fact was that sake can come in an unpasteurized form in Japan, and only in Japan, because it would go bad if shipped elsewhere. As part of the event we visited a local store selling hundreds of different types of sake, and many people ended up buying some "only in Japan" unpasteurized sake.

Sake tasting

It’s completely unreasonable to expect to finish exploring a huge city like Kyoto in two days. We didn’t have time to see the temples on the east side, or the mountains on the west side, but we can always take a future trip back to Kyoto and see more. We said goodbye to Kyoto this morning and are currently on our way to Nara, where we will see more temples, hopefully some cherry blossoms, and lots of deer!

- MC 4/15

Temples and Tofu in Nikko

Nikko is a mountain town located roughly 500 meters above sea level. As we walked down the main street from the train station, the atmosphere was calm and quaint, reminding me of some of the towns located inside various national parks back in the states. It had a nice small town feel, if you ignored the large hordes of selfie-stick wielding tourists (of which we indeed contributed to) - a short two hour train ride away from Tokyo, Nikko is also one of the most popular day trip locations, for both locals and foreigners.

Most people visit Nikko for the temples and shrines, which was also what we planned our itinerary around. What I didn’t realize was that Nikko was also famous for their Yuba, thin rolls of tofu skin that taste and feel silky smooth. We ended up splurging for lunch at a small family restaurant called Naomi Cha-ya serving nine-course meals including several plates of Yuba. The dishes were very unique ranging from crackers topped with wasabi cream cheese to rice sprinkled with bits of sakura flowers. Overall it was a good experience and well worth the 2700 yen.

Part of our Yuba set lunch

After lunch we hiked up the hill to the main temple area. The main attraction was clearly the Nikko Toshogu, an enormous shrine built in the 1600s dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of the great shogun of the era. A massive torii gate with pillars three meters in diameter framed the entrance to the shrine. Once inside, there were dozens of buildings with intricately crafted wood carvings on the walls and accents of gold. One of the most interesting buildings we visited was the Hall of the Crying Dragon. When you clap two wooden clappers together in just the right spot, the halls echoes with a sound like a crying dragon, which is where it got its name.

Inner gate to the main temple at Toshogu

A wide walking path connected Toshogu to Futarasan and Taiyuin, two other shrines. We decided to pay the entrance fee to go into Taiyuin, the mausoleum of Ieyasu’s grandson, Iemitsu. It was noticeably smaller than Toshogu, but possessed a more peaceful and solemn air, perhaps because there were barely any tourists there. It was nice to just walk around and enjoy the beautiful architecture without worrying about walking into random people every few steps.

Inside Taiyuin, having the shrine almost all to ourselves

We concluded our trip with a visit to the Kanmangafuchi Abyss. Across town on the other side of the river was a short walking trail that followed the river. What makes it special are the numerous Buddhist statues that line the trail. One of the tourist guides we read said that if you walk down the trail in one direction and count the statues, and then walk the other way and count, you will end up with numbers that are off by one. Legend says that it is because one of the extra statues you counted is actually a spirit that appears and disappears. Another tourist guide said that there are exactly 70 statues. We tried counting them both ways and everyone ended up with different numbers, none of which were 70. Either the spirits were very active yesterday or we’re all bad at counting.

Walking along the Kanmangafuchi Abyss

As I write this, we are riding on one of the shinkansen bullet trains to Kyoto, where we plan on touring some more temples and shrines. It will be interesting to see how those temples in a big city contrast with those we saw in the relatively secluded Nikko.

- MC 4/13