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Published: September 13th 2008
Beautiful Kyoto
Isn't it lovely?13 Sep 08
Today we made it back to Tokyo. I'm quite relieved, actually. It was fun traveling around, but we kind of jam-packed our days here. It's nice to know there is no more logistical stuff coming. The airport jaunt will be quite enough, thank you. I'm getting ahead of myself, though. Let's start at the beginning of the day.
Rachel and I slept in a bit today. An early call from Samia woke me up, but Rachel slept through. Another call from Takako, so I woke Rach. After that, we were both awake, darn it! 😊
Our plan was to take the 5:30 train to Tokyo. For some reason, Samia had made plans to meet Alice at 4:30. I don't remember agreeing to this (as Alice hasn't been a part of our trip otherwise) but went along with it. Therefore, we had time to do one or two things before leaving Kyoto.
We opted to go to the Bamboo Grove. It's this great little bamboo forest attached to Japan's first zen temple. The grounds were gorgeous and the grove amazing. Everything smelled so fresh and clean. It was nice. I found a train terminal that
would take us directly back to our station & I bought a fun charm for my cell phone...well, it's on my camera until I get home. I got it out of a "gumball" machine. There were five choices and I really wanted the geisha, but I got the train sign. It's still pretty cute.
A slightly meandering return trip...again, Samia asked me about the train (which we have passes for) and I gave her an answer and she ignored it...so we wandered around a bit more in the hot sun. Finally ended up at a bus stop and figured out which bus would get us back to Kyoto sta. It was an interesting little ride & cost $2.50. Not a lot of money, but with Samia making comments about making the rail pass pay for itself because it was SO expensive I just wanted to kick her. 😊
Rachel wasn't feeling good and on the bus we discussed taking an earlier train to Tokyo so she could rest and end the day a bit earlier. We were finished around 2:15 and didn't have time to do too much else and we're all running a bit low on energy.
Kyoto, Zen Temple
This place was very peaceful and beautiful. Hard to believe it was the same city. Well, of course, this idea didn't fly with Samia. She is the most inflexible, insensitive, self-centered, oblivious and arrogant person I've met in a long-time. These are all opposites of Rachel (and I'd like to think of myself) so I really don't understand how they're friends. I'd've snapped long ago & never looked back. High maintenance people make me very, very twitchy.
At any rate, we're standing in the train station and all she can say is, "I don't want to be left alone." Obviously. There was no way to reach Alice to change the plans so Samia was unwilling to change her own plans and, by extension, our plans. I totally and completely lost it. I've felt it coming for a few days, but she is a complete whiny, useless, bitchy princess. I cannot believe she's an educated and experienced world traveler. I made the argument for Rachel's sake (letting her rest, getting resettled a few hours earlier, Alice hasn't done anything with us...why do our plans have to hinge on her?) and Samia was having none of it. "We decided this yesterday." Whatever. She told us this was the plan this morning...there was no "discussion." Rachel was
Kyoto, Bamboo Grove
Rachel & I at the grove. Don't know what's up with the light...maybe we're angels? waxen and shaky and obviously needed to sit down. The best Samia could offer was, "I'm sure the hotel has somewhere you can relax." Yeah, she could relax on the damn train to Tokyo.
Anyway, long catfight short, I am now on a train to Tokyo alone and they are all coming later. I just couldn't be there anymore and it really does me no good to fight with or even talk to Samia. She doesn't listen and it just hurts Rachel. And what could Rachel do? She REALLY wanted to leave early, but what do you say to someone who is like, "you absolutely CANNOT leave me alone. That's not fair." And then she has the unmitigated gall to say, "I'm not being inflexible. This is what we decided." I kind of hate her now. If I can get Rachel to do stuff with me in Tokyo, I will. Otherwise, I'll probably go off on my own. I'm sick to death of Samia blocking escalators (being in the wrong lane), taking 10 minutes to order food (and then complaining about the restaurant's inability to accommodate her requests), bitching about getting lost (usually her own fault), asking and ignoring,
Kyoto, Bamboo Grove
This place was so nice. Everything smelled so good. and generally being a pain-in-the-ass. I really had no idea she was like this. I'd only met her once but she seemed cool and interesting...until one realizes every word out of her mouth and every thought in her head is about herself. Even on the city bus, she charges ahead to the bus driver swinging her JR pass (that would be a "rail" pass, not a bus pass, but okay). Rachel and I board more slowly, see the ticket dispenser, take one each and find seats. Samia comes charging back down the aisle still confused. We tell her take a ticket and we pay when we get off (which we just figured out in the moment...and not really rocket science, you know?)...her response? A very offended, "well, why didn't you tell me?" Are we her mother? She wouldn't have listened anyways.
So, I opted to take the train that left at 3pm and get settled in Tokyo. I hope that Samia doesn't bitch about me the whole time and actually lets Rachel rest. I just can't deal with it anymore. I love it here so much and there is so much to see and do that I am absolutely
Kyoto, Arashiyama, Bamboo Grove
Sun filtering though the leaves. finished wasting time and effort on this hime-sama. I'm making a plan for the next 2 1/2 days in Tokyo and if people want to join me (and follow my damn lead) they are invited. I know Rachel is interested in Tokyo Disneyland, so I'm going to try to get her to do that. Of course, the problem is that Samia doesn't like rides or amusement parks, but I think it's time for separating again. 😊 Rachel and I had a great time on our own when we first got to Tokyo, so I think we should have a day like that again.
My general plan is to check out Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, and Akibahara (these are all neighborhoods). Maybe Disneyland. Maybe a day trip to Hakone or Mt. Fuji. Do some shopping, write and send some postcards, and chill out in one of the coolest, busiest cities in the world. My last few days are going to be stress-free, dammit! Other than my own self-generated angst.
Whoa. All of a sudden this turned into a therapy session, but that was what went down today. And it was definitely part of my travels. I am quite excited to
Shinkansen to Tokyo
It got really misty and started raining while I was traveling to Tokyo. Even this was cool. :) be on the train to Tokyo alone (unlike some people!) and can't wait to see the hotel. We're staying at the Sunshine Prince Hotel in Ikebukuro. Again, it's near the subway station and lots of shopping. Not the trendiest neighborhood in Tokyo, but pretty centrally located and the price was right! It was the booking that I was responsible for...hopefully there's nothing majorly wrong with it or I'll NEVER hear the end of it.
It's raining now it is quite the view to be on a train speeding through a very misty and wet Japanese landscape. Peaceful and restorative. Thank goodness...
Agitatedly yours,
Rae
Late night P.S.: There was something majorly wrong at the hotel. I booked two semi-doubles for two people. Apparently, that means one bed! Turns out it was a REALLY good thing I got here early & alone...I can only imagine how it would have gone down w/all four of us discovering it together. As it was, I was able to upgrade our rooms to two beds (Samia still complained about how small they are...at this point I'm picturing her as a little yapping pomeranian and it's helping a lot!) for pretty cheap. I
Tokyo, Ikebukuro, Prince Hotel
Here's part of my dinner. It's a rice roll ingeniously wrappted in plastic so the seaweed wrap doesn't get soggy. visited the "Family Mart" convenience store located directly off the lobby to stock up for dinner and breakfast. It's kind of funny to be eating out of train station cafes and convenience stores but it's also pretty true to "business" life here...so, that makes it "authentic" Japanese experiences, right?!? 😊
I chilled in the room, checking e-mail and bank statements. Why does the internet have to mean responsibility as well as funtimes? At least we just got paid at work, so I feel rich again!
Rach and I talked a bit when they finally got here & I think we have a plan for tomorrow. The fall Sumo Wrestling tournament starts tomorrow. We're going to try and get tickets and go watch some matches. She is dying to do this & I'm quite interested. Our other option is a day-trip to Hakone. Alice & Samia are going for a day-trip to Kamakura...it was perfect in that I've already been there (and Rachel doesn't care) so we are splitting into two groups. Tomorrow should be super fantastico. I will let you know! ><
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Erica
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Pink Bubbles
A friend of mine who was dealing with family "issues" while being treated for cancer shared an exercise that her therapist taught her. When she needed to not get drained by mother's hyper-critical overbearingness she would mentally blow a big PINK bubble and put her mom inside -- her mom could just keep going in that bubble, but it no longer affected my friend. Might work on Pomerainians --