Bicycles in Kyoto Originally uploaded by Monatopia. One thing that no one mentioned to me during my inquiries into Kyoto were the bicycles. Most of Japan seemed to be suited to bicycles but Kyoto seemed more suited than most. For about $10 a day you can rent a bike and get to nearly every corner [...]

Grrr… Originally uploaded by Monatopia. OK, I had SUCH a hard time figuring out which image to use for this post. I really suggest you surf over to flickr to look at the rest This was our first kyo-ryori experience, graciously set up by our ryokan hosts at a restaurant called Manshige. Our hosts drove [...]

8 great iPhotos Originally uploaded by Monatopia. Too. Much. Luggage. We left one bag stuffed with CD’s, shopping, and things we just had no idea why we packed in the first place in Tokyo. Yet we still had an embarrassing amount of luggage. Later in the trip we would find out that it was MUCH [...]

6 great iPhotos Originally uploaded by Monatopia. Real life has set in. We have no place to stay in Kyoto. We haven’t made our reservations. We’ve not picked up our rail pass. We spend the morning taking care of business with our fabulous Japanese hangovers. Afterwards we head off to Shinjuku to enjoy our last [...]

10 great iPhotos Originally uploaded by Monatopia. We debated posting about this as it was one of the most unsettling events either of us can remember witnessing. In the end, we decided that we needed to know more about what was happening, and the only way we would be able to do that was to [...]

Standing Bar Originally uploaded by Monatopia. Today we decided to take it easy as our feet were killing us. We did a very good job of sticking to that until we met Yoko at the Standing Bar with the Little Prices. One of our best meals in Tokyo so far. It is in a basement [...]