A Trip to Ise

Wednesday, May 6, 2008--Ise

Today I went to Ise. It was a bit of a disappointment. I went there because it is a sort of Japanese Mecca. There are two old shrines there that all Japanese are supposed to visit once in their lives. The guidebook made it sound interesting, and there were even tours of Americans and Europeans there. But the temples were open only at the entrance. I saw only two Japanese women get entrance beyond to see inside the buildings. All the rest of us stood out front and peeked at the rooflines. Even worse, it took 2 1/2 hours each way by train to go there and return.

There was one good aspect of the trip, however. Near one of the temples is a recreation of an old Edo-period town. It functions as a place for tourists to eat, buy souvenirs, etc. And it is located on the exact spot where an Edo-period town actually existed. It was fun seeing it.

As has happened before in Japan, I was fooled by a snack that I bought. It looked like a skewer with pieces of meat on it sprinkled with spices and herbs. I bought it. But the inside was a thick fig mixture. It was rolled in a thin dough which cracked and browned on the grill giving the look of meat. And it was covered with hot spices. Strange, but I could at least eat it without thinking it was horrible.

I am dieting. Combined with increased walking, I want to lose at least 25-30 lbs. (10-12 kg) Trying to stay on 1000 calories a day or less is part of it in addition to the walking. That should allow me to lose 1/2-2/3 lb per day. I hope I can already tell the difference by the time I leave Japan. The high food prices here make it easier to stay on the diet!!

Thursday, May 7, 2008--Nara to Nagoya

I am off to Nagoya today. I will take the train--about a 3 hour trip. I have a reservation for one night at a hotel there. The main reason for going is that I fly out of the airport there tomorrow morning or Okinawa, so I must be closer to the airport. But I will spend this afternoon exploring the city.

Do not know if a computer will be handy anywhere. I have not been seeing cyber cafes here. Japan fits my definition of the availability of cyber cafes--the richer the country, the fewer cyber cafes due to the fact that people can afford to have their own computers at home with Internet connections. Will hope that the hotel has a free terminal as I have had here.