ngl I am a bit depressed right now

and foresee dwelling on what I was doing exactly one year ago for the next 20 days

Japan was beyond the trip of a lifetime. nothing went wrong. everything was 10x more amazing than I expected

the worst thing that happened the whole trip was having a "meh" dinner at a Kura Sushi in Nagano

it has a beauty you dont' forget easily

I dream of it every week, I fantasize about living in Osaka or doing a sabbatical trip for 30-60 days

GOD sharon Kyoto was so beautiful, how could you bear to leave it?

the Virtual Kyoto youtube did a walk through your campus a couple months ago and I went "oohhhhhhhh..."

ahaha well I was at a time in my life where I didn't feel like I fit in anywhere and I was glad to go back BUT when I go again I'll have a much better time

still I remember walking down the steps of Doshisha to the train station and there was a full moon in a black sky and the air was still

and this girl flew past me down the steps in heels

it's the memory snapshots, isn't it?

I have a snapshot of the moment on Miyajima when I was sitting on a rock, in yukata, gazing at the O-torii all lit up for the night and hearing an old woman saying "mukashi mukashi..." and launching into the tale of the founding of Itsukushima shrine by the Taira

of which I only really understood enough nouns to know that's what she was talking about, but it was the old traditional storytelling style I remember

awwww

and the food god

GOD

we had a chat with a Japanese artist at Art Fair last summer where all three of us just went "unnnnnnnnhhhh...I miss konbini!"

but also Osaka. If I had my dream sabbatical I would live for a year in Osaka and work at a restaurant to learn all the secrets

the only time I stood in line on purpose for food was for takoyaki in Osaka and it was worth it

yesss

it was

I know I didn't find the best kushikatsu so if/when we go back I want to find one of those little places near Kuromon where the chef tells you what you want to eat deep fried and breaded

that said, the kushikatsu was still damn good, as was the okonomiyaki

we want to spend a week in Osaka and just wander around Namba next time, bonus if we go during sumo