The Golden Temple

We enjoyed this site one last time. The crowds were heavy today. Below are some of the sights we visited on our final trip to Kyoto. Hope you enjoy the pics.

The Silver Temple (Ginkaku-ji)

The Silver Temple is a Zen temple originally built to serve as a plade of rest for the Shogun. I could have stayed here all day. Out of this world!

The Tori Gates

My little Geisha girl

Breathtaking!

This was a destination the Carrasco's were excited to see. We made it a point to take them to the top. What a nice view of the city of Kyoto.

The Geisha

The backstreets of Gion, a place we missed seeing last year. This was indicative of Old Japan.

There she quickly walks and soon disappears.

I am walking down the street, turn my face and oh my gosh, there she comes walking towards me quick as can be to avoid cameras.

Our second visit to Kyoto was just as enjoyable as our first. We were able to visit some different sites and I accomplished my mission of seeing a real Geisha in action. We had so much fun stalking through the back streets of the Gion district. The Geisha's and Maikos (Apprentice Geishas) usually arrive at this area around 6:30 to 7:00pm for dinner and entertainment of their guests. WE had done our research. We felt like the paparazzi with our camera's just waiting for one to come out of these old traditional wooden homes. We first spotted two in a taxi, then one down an alley. They are like Japanese nuns, We were so excited.

Osaka

The Osaka Aquarium

The Santa Maria coming in to dock

This was a place filled with awe and wonder. The famous giant crab.

Our crab was delicious.

The girl grilling our crab.

Staying in Osaka was a great idea. Our decision to stay in Osaka was based on the fact that all hotels in Kyoto were booked. Osaka is a 90 mile drive from Kyoto or a short train ride. We wanted full autonomy with our schedule and also wanted to visit Dotonbori street with its famous giant mechanical crab. I felt like Anthony Bourdain on one of his visits to Osaka. Everything on his show was so familiar right down to the drummer boy. This was a happening place and we truly enjoyed the grilled crab and octopus balls.

Cooked to Perfection

Happy Birthday to Me

Those are our steaks on the grill, Yum!

Renie was happy he had a whole expensive steak to himself. Spoiled child

Kathrina and I enjoying some Kobe Beef soup.

We are successfully back from our Thanksgiving road trip to Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. We were accompanied by the Carrasco family. The drive was beautiful with all the maple leaves looking so colorful. We rented a van so we drove in comfort and had free tolls to and from our destination. We also had an English speaking GPS system and took full advantage of driving everywhere. I have to give Rene and Ernie an A+ on driving. Some of the back streets in Kyoto were quite narrow. For my birthday dinner, we were able to enjoy dinning on the best steaks in the world. These are the Kobe steaks. Kobe steaks in the states are easily well over $100.00-$300.00. This steak is a legendary delicacy of Japan. It is so well marbled that they go right off the charts for Prime grading in any other country. It takes a special cook to perfect this steak. We were able to enjoy a steak set each for around $54.00 plus dollars. They were well worth the price and we also enjoyed watching the chefs prepare them with such skill. Now we can say we ate a steak in Kobe, home of the best steaks in the world.

Congratulations

Today I received an email at work congratulating Rene for being granted the position of Dental Health Specialist. He will be the first dentist to be granted this position. He will basically be the dental consultant for Humanitarian deployments to South America. His expertise will be relied upon for organizing such deployments within the dental squadron. This is a great move for his career, and a change I think he is looking forward to. We will PCS to Tucson Arizona for three years this summer. This will be the city where Renie will graduate from. I have mixed emotions hoping that we might have gone to Europe, but I do believe everything happens for a reason and it will be nice to be back in the states and close to home for a change. We will at some point request Europe in the future. So again, I congratulate my wonderful husband and wish him the best. He totally deserves it. The best part is that I will finally get my chance to live in a southwest home. Now my furniture will fit in.

Hook'em

Larissa being Larissa

I love taking a picture of this tree right outside my back yard patio.  This will be the last Fall picture I take of this tree.

Rene and I being lazy watching the Longhorns smash Kansas.

On blogging this week, well I got behind.  Planning a Thanksgiving dinner this past Saturday took all my time.  We had around 20 people over for an early celebration since most of our friends were going to be traveling this week.  I can't believe how fast this month has flown by.  I am also finding myself well behind on Christmas cards, gifts, etc...  I have spent the better half of this month searching for that one perfect dress for my  mom's anniversary.  Since shopping is slim pic kin's over hear I have had to order online.  I am guessing I must have ordered and sent back around 6 dresses.  I think I finally found the right dress, but still waiting for it to arrive. Oh well, such is life while living in Japan where the biggest dress you can find is a size 2.  

This week is busy with just three days of school and work then packing to head to Osaka and Kyoto on Thursday.  I am still eager to spot a Geisha before I leave Japan.  We really enjoyed Kyoto last year, and want to return to see some other spots we may have missed, but really it is just a chance to get away and keep busy so we don't get homesick.  I am hoping to capture a nice picture for our Christmas cards.  Sunday was just a day of relaxation and football.

Some Excitement For the Night

To bad it was dark

Well, we did not get to see Obama due to his short stay here in Japan, but as we were driving down the base tonight, lo and behold there was his limo. There was a cluster of Denali's, Secret Service dude's and two bullet proof limos. I kindly asked the Secret Service dude if I could take a picture. He replied sure, just not of the inside. Shortly after, they were loaded onto a plane on the flightline. Pretty cool!

Queen for a Day

Onsen Etiquette

Our Japanese Friends who always treat us to such a wonderful cultural experience.

On our way to the Onsen which was just a short walk from our dinning area.

Shoes on, shoes off, shoes on, shoes off

A picture taken right after my bath.

Lunch Time

That is my soup staying warm under the fire.

You know you have stepped into Japan when you have stepped into a Japanese bath house.  Today our culture friends treated us to a day fit for a queen.  They must have spent quite a bit of money treating us to a private onsen/lunch experience.  I mean we had the whole place to ourselves complete with wonderful service.  The tranquil inn and garden entrance welcomed us to a complete relaxation experience.  For many, it was their first time, so the thought of having to be naked in front of familiar friends was a bit uncomfortable.  Once we entered, and got comfortable in the onsen, all those worries went out the door. Everyone felt so relaxed.  It was as if we were all overtaken by a magical spell.  Most onsens are set around exquisite Japanese gardens. Afterwards, we enjoyed a wonderful traditional Japanese lunch fit for a queen.