The day started early again as 1) our sleep schedules were still messed up and 2) we wanted to make sure we made it to the Shinkansen, or bullet train, with enough time to spare. If you did this trip every day it would be no big deal, but we needed to navigate several steps: monorail, local train, Shinkansen, local train. If we missed the correct train it wasn't too big of a deal to switch the tickets, but we didn't want to do that.
Monorail to local train was normal. The local train was packed! Not as packed as some of the horror stories you hear about Japanese trains and we were all able to easily get in with our luggage, but there wasn't much extra room. The next stop a few more people got on, but everyone shifted and the packing stayed about the same. The third stop most people got off. The line to go down the escalator reached all the way across the platform, and some of the platforms are really, really long. (They surprised me a few times. Again, if you did it every day you'd know which side of the platform was the best to get on/off at, but a few times we should have walked for another five minutes while waiting for the train so we didn't have to make the walk at the end.)
We got off at Tokyo station, one of the biggest train stations in Tokyo. There was pretty good signage as to where we needed to go, but it was not all that close at it was still rush hour. We quickly learned to stay on the left of the escalators with our bags also on the left so that people could walk by. It wasn't the largest mass of humanity I've every been in (which is still Disney on NYE), but it was close. We made it to the bullet train with time to spare. Ben and Joshua found some peach juice that everyone ended up getting a bottle of because it was delicious.
We got on the train, and it was rather uneventful. It was exciting to go so fast, but after a while it's just another mode of transportation. Ben enjoyed going by other trains, but Isaac and I said it just made our eyes hurt. Mount Fuji was cloud covered.
After the Shinkansen we had one more local train to catch, and what did we find on the way? More Mog-good! We were all hoping to find peach flavor, but this was pineapple. While not quite as funny as the first one, it was still funny.
We walked to a local curry place for lunch. Just as in Tokyo, the walking directions brought us down tiny alleys that could barely fit a car. But at the same time, they were clean and well lit. The ones in Kyoto had more flowers, while the small roads in Tokyo felt more metropolitan. This curry was spicier than the other curries we had had, but it was still good. Ben likes things a bit on the spicier side, so he especially enjoyed it. Again, it was just a little restaurant with room for about ten people and the total was about $30 for plenty of food. We went back to our hotel and were just about to move on to the next activity (as in an uber had just been requested) when 1) Travis and Scarlet were going to be available soon and 2) our rooms were ready. It was a little annoying since all of our plans suddenly changed, but it was also really nice to be able to get into our rooms and have a plan to meet Travis and Scarlet.
We went to Kiyomizu-dera, one of the famous temples in Kyoto. It was beautiful...and busy.
We tried lifting some of the...yeah, I don't really know what they were. The iron shoes were liftable but heavy and I couldn't really figure out any reason why someone would wear them.
Travis and I were taking pictures of each other at the same time.
The temple is on a mountain side, and you can walk around to a pagoda on the other side (that is just to the right of this picture.)
This is the view from half way around; the tall pagoda is where we took the previous pictures. I thought the old temple and modern city made an interesting juxaposition.
Google Translate/Google Lens was a life saver. HOWEVER, I won't tell you the number of times I translated an important looking sign and it said something like, "no smoking, no dogs" or "exit".
This is the pagoda on the opposite side. I made everyone walk around the whole thing, and we found a different path back! Travis often visits some of these sites with customers, but they're on a much more strict schedule. It was nice to encourage him to do some different things too.
Again, where we took pictures over the balcony earlier.
There is a place with mountain water that you can "get a benefit". Travis told us prosperity, health, and wisdom, although Google says success, a fortunate love life, and health. Anyway, we randomly assigned one to each stream. Isaac and I took wisdom, I think Joshua took prosperity, which would leave Scarlet with health.
For dinner we had been hoping to find a tempura spot, but it was hard with seven people. The person at the hotel's front desk instead suggest this "fry it yourself" place at a mall that she goes to with her friends. While the food wasn't delicious, it was a fun experience and we all had plenty of food. The little sausages were cut so that they looked like octopi after they were cooked. I think they also had a face, but I didn't realize it at the time.
Joshua tried a bunch of new vegetables and liked most of them.
Joshua was getting dessert, and it was a bit confusing. The tongs for one of the items was in water, so he just asked one of the staff how to get it. And then the staff member spoke English well enough, so they were just chatting for about five minutes.
We had a little extra time, and all the kids zeroed in on an arcade as we entered the mall. We had been talking about going to one on Sunday when we arrived, but there wasn't really enough time. Ok, so Ben and Travis took the kids to the arcade. It was rather loud, so Cheryl and I sat nearby.
Ben gave the kids each 800 yen, which he figured would last about fifteen minutes. Forty-five minutes later, both kids still had money. The arcades were amazing! For 100 yen you would get three songs at the games, all of which lasted about five minutes. So you can go to one of these for an evening and spend a reasonable amount of money on your hobby. And there were some people there in white gloves and ear pieces doing an amazing job on the songs. (Note the difference between Isaac and the person behind him in the video.)
Anyway, it was almost time to go and Joshua asked if he could spend his last 200 yen at a claw machine. Ben had previously said no claw machines as they're horribly rigged, but it was the end of the night and he was ready to leave so he said yes. Several minutes later Joshua comes back with a huge grin on his face. He looked over all the claw machines and found the one that he had the best chance at winning. And he won a cat in a banana. Honestly, this is probably the stuffy that suits him the best over all that we had seen throughout the trip. The smile didn't leave his face for the rest of the night.
And that brings us to our hotel room. Joshua and I stayed in this one while Ben and Isaac were on the other side of the wall. It was small, but with only two people it was also plenty large enough.
Today I joined the 7th graders for their field trip to Craig's Cruisers. I went so much better than I was expecting.
First of all, I only had Isaac in my group. There ended up being plenty of drivers, so it was just the two of us. The drive was shorter than I expected. Isaac still interacted well with classmates, and they were happy to have him around. We did a few things by ourselves, and I wasn't in charge of a ton of kids. It was great.
Isaac enjoyed the go-karts more than he did last time, so that was nice. We did a zip-line ride which was rather underwhelming. It did bring us up high, but it did not let us drop in free-fall. The ride up was more exciting then the ride down. We played some mini golf with other classmates, had lunch, and played two games of laser tag. The first game was much more fun than the second, but the first game was smaller and we got first and third place.
We got back to school at 1:30 and Isaac was allowed to come home with me. I was able to take a shower and a nap before picking up Joshua.
Ben had been doing quite a bit of e-Foiling now that the weather is nicer.
In the morning Ben and I put together a storage bin for his e-Foil so that he can get it in the water without help. Well, I told him I was leaving at noon due to other things going on in the day, but he was only about a half hour behind me; we had almost finished putting everything together.
After lunch I took a nap because that was what I wanted to do. Then I finished cleaning the house (the kids did a great job starting in the morning).
Friends came over in the evening. The kids played well - first in the basement and then outside. It was a bit crazy like always, but also fun like always.
Today it felt like I got a lot done. The curry was on it's last simmer by 9:30. I finished unpacking and putting away groceries, so the floor is mostly picked up.
After school we went to get some flowers for the year. We all have things that we like to get along with a random assortment. This year Isaac ended up with a large and small succulent, along with zucchini plants. He was going to try watermelon again, but we were pretty late in getting our flowers and they were all gone. I think he's excited about zucchini bread. Joshua got some (small) strawberry plants; I hope they thrive for him. He also got a succulent and a bright red tall flower and his normal snapdragons. They only had one flat of snapdragons left, so we were a bit lucky. I got my normal dragon leaf begonia, some leafy things, some white things to go with the red flower, and some marigolds. There is no rhyme or reason to what we get, other than it catches our eye.
Well, this would be a good place to put a picture of the flowers but of course I didn't take one.
While today was rather boring, I did finally make headway on the chores. The laundry is almost complete, the entryway has been picked up, and all the groceries are purchased (although not put away). I'm hoping to do some more interesting chores tomorrow, but we'll see how things go.
I stopped by Hope before Isaac's math class to drop off some things for their last day. His teacher is so nice. Isaac had a gigantic final exam, and it would have been nice to have more than a week that didn't include a holiday, but otherwise the class is run so nicely. There are plenty of chances to fix work, the teacher loves math and is excited by it but also can run a classroom. She is also incredibly responsive via email. And she loved having Isaac! The program really does work well for him, in more ways than just learning math. There is a ton of time management and responsibility that Isaac has figured out too.
We went rock climbing right afterwards. Isaac completed the V5 that he's been working on. He hasn't completed many of that level, so it was extra exciting. I didn't get to see it because I was belaying Joshua, but his coach was watching and cheering him on.
I am still working through getting stuff done. I still don't have a clean kitchen, I've barely unpacked, I didn't finish the wash (although that's normal), and it took me until the evening to get half the groceries. It's a big grocery week so I need to go to two stores and I only got to one. I have a bit more time tomorrow, so I'm optimistic things will get done.
The food situation has been 'dire'. Carrots were gone a few days ago. There were three florets of broccoli left for dinner; the lunch vegetable was peanuts. There is no fresh fruit...although I found two apples hiding as I put the groceries away.
A friend brought Isaac back from church this evening and even though it only saved me twenty minutes, I used those twenty minutes well.
