Giovanni Ruiz

Last time you guys heard from me, we had just gotten back to the hostel from pounding drinks at the pub crawl. Today, well, today was the day our awesome journey ends =/ No more authentic japanese sushi, no more extensive metro system, no more sumo, and no more worry free days not having to go to work.... (for a while at least). Our flight departed from Tokyo at 5:30pm. To be on the safe side, we left the hostel at noon. It's always better to get to the airport early..... especially when you're on standby. We hung around the hostel until noon, checked out, and headed to the airport. After getting some much needed sustenance and some last minute gifts, we headed to gate 37. We were on "standby" so it wasn't guaranteed we had ... read more

So far this trip, Katie and I had been going at a break neck pace. Doing and seeing so much, that we rarely had a chance to relax and mellow out for more than a couple hours. I knew it would be like this, so I planned an early in the morning even, then after that, a day of relaxation. The day started at 4am for us. We got up, got ready, and headed to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Every travel guide I read, said this place was not to be missed. And to see all the action, we had to get there early. Now, seeing tuna auctions and all that is fine and dandy, but I was there to try some sushi. Fresh sushi, the kind that feels like it was in the water 10 ... read more

Temples and gardens and shrines, oh my! Today is our real FULL day day in Kyoto so I had an action packed day in store for Katie and I. The morning got off to a great start. While researching what to do today, I found out about the Raku Bus. It’s a city bus line sytem that not only stops at places all over the city, but stops at the main attractions, as well. SCORE! Kyoto’s subway system isn’t very good; there’s only 2 subway lines that forms a cross with one side swooping down kind of like an “h” shape. This is where things started going REALLY well. As Katie and I walked up to purchase our tickets for the bus, we noticed the machine was beeping. Katie looked and said, “What’s this?”. A moment ... read more

"What are you doing awake?" said Katie still in the grips her slumber. "I don't know" I replied. I really didn't. Last time I left off with all of you, it was about 10pm and I was considering calling it an early night and checking out the Tsukiji Fish Market in the morning. However, after I finished the last blog, I went down to the front counter and was informed that the Market was closed today........bummer. I then continued to talk to some of the fellow travelers in the hostel, then messed around on the computer until about 1am local time. The short exchange you just read between Katie and I occurred at about 4am. That's right, 4am. That puts my sleep counter at about 3 hours. Either way, I was wide awake and had tons ... read more

Temples! Sushi! Sumo! It's about the only thing I have been able to focus on the past few months ever since I told my girlfriend, Katie, that we should take a trip to Tokyo. So many times these past few months, while stuck doing overtime at work or sacrificing going out on a weekend, I kept telling myself "It'll all be worth it when you're in Japan." After we decided to go for it, I began to voraciously read travel guides, blogs, web sites, and anything I could get my hands on that would give me information on Japan and things to see/do. And today........ today was the day we'd depart to The land of the rising sun. *RING*.......*RING*...... *RING*........ as the alarm clock rang out, my first thought was "please, just 5 more min.", however, ... read more