More yawns followed during the night bus ride to Tokyo (nobody had a seatmate this time… excellent) and as I staggered through the early morning of Tokyo. In Tokyo, I wandered around Ueno before anything opened and decided I wasn’t up to staggering through a temple district in Asakusa; I went to the airport early. There, the only thing noteworthy was a Japanese crepe. I ate it.

Back in Shanghai, though, back from the abysmally-located airport and checked into my hostel, I am reminded of what makes China a great travel destination for me. Walking down the alley where the hostel is located, I see the tell-tale small wooden baskets that can mean… well, a few things, but I hope they can mean just one thing: jiaozi. And they do. And one basket of eight is 3 kwai—about 40 cents—well under half the cost of, say, a can of Coke in Japan, and about the same cost as that can in China.

And life is good.

Monday: Went to nearby Nara, an ancient capital. Walked all around Nara-koen, saw a really big wooden building (Grand Buddha hall) among other nice things. Came back, explored downtown Kyoto.

My food staples here: Yoshinoya beef bowl at least once daily, Cafe du Monde beignets and coffee in Kyoto station, Frosties (I have become a major coupon user in Japan), and CC Lemon (if you are going to drink sugar water, why not pump it full of Vitamin C? Good idea, Suntory Beverages).

Tuesday: Osaka. Surprise old buildings and rose garden on a little river island, massive (and expensive) acquarium including also-massive whale shark, spider crabs, etc). Insane nightlife/shopping scene (beware, Hong Kong), not as impressive electronics scene. Lonely Planet snarked about the fashion victims in America-mura… but it was an understatement. Wow.

Wedneday: Lots of walking. From the Gold Pavilion to the Silver (seeing things between) to the Imperial palace area back to Silver down the Philosophy Path and through some Zen temples back to the Gion old nightlife area and then downtown. I walked more or less 10 hours with few interruptions.

Today: time to wander around relaxedly until my night bus leaves for Tokyo at 2240. Last night was my last in a (nice, soft) bed in Japan. Tomorrow, maybe a little Asakusa in Tokyo before flying back to Shanghai in the afternoon.

Met a very animated Japanese prof. of linguistics (ed. at Teach. Coll. in NYC)… he had me proof a page of the revised ed. of his idiomatic Japanese-English dictionary.

Time is up… to wandering.

Got a, uh, free view of Tokyo for those 1500 yen, though. The exhibition was excellent, with two walk-through full-scale models included.

Whoever put those Wendys branches in Tokyo and let them sell Frosties is also responsible for my budget’s deterioration.

I got to Kyoto after a fairly pleasant bus ride… at 0545, well before reception opened at my hostel. I sat around and was cold for a while, but also got to gawk at the impressive, fairly new Kyoto station. Later I did a walking tour for a few hours around a part of town I can’t spell, enjoying the temples (what I can stand of them) and their fantastic views. Kyoto is fortunate in that many parts have escaped earthquakes and American bombs since the 1600s, so there were some neat old (for Japan) temples to see.

A daytrip to Nara (and perhaps Kobe or Osaka) and more meandering around Kyoto are in order for the next few days. The current plan is to book a night bus from the 7th to the 8th, putting me in Tokyo about a half-day before I fly back to Shanghai. Once in Shanghai, I will be running like mad to see at least one of Hangzhou or Suzhou before I go back to SZ and begin my long journey back Stateside.