Road Trip Part 3

I wish I had a good excuse for why I've become such a blogging slacker, but I don't think the whole "I've been busy." line is going to cut it. I mean, who isn't? 

Anyway, this blog will finally conclude the Road Trip portion and will hopefully be the end of my blogging hiatus. 

To finish up our time with Mike and Maya, we headed to Kyoto, one of my very favorite places in Japan. It's such peaceful and lively city. Not many cities can encapsulate both.

Fortunately, we had great weather for Mike and Maya's entire trip. I completely overreacted and warned them that it would be rainy and super hot. The rainy season and extreme humidity held off, and I'm currently experiencing both. Yuck. Anyway, here's a photo of Mike and Maya at a shrine we found right off of the Philosopher's Path, a beautiful walking path through Kyoto.

Here's a shot of a cute Japanese family taking a stroll along the path.

And here we are in front of an aqueduct. If I weren't feeling so lazy right now, I would look up the name and give you some background, but I'm just not feeling it. Sorry.

After spending a great day in Kyoto, we returned to Nagoya and enjoyed the city for a couple of days. The following Saturday, we headed to Aichi Bokujou, a neat little outdoor area where a small farm can be observed. Obviously, I wasn't interested in the whole petting a cow thing, but I was certainly excited to eat some of the fresh ice cream. Was delicious, by the way! We spent the afternoon barbecuing over an open firepit, eating ice cream and checking out farm animals. It felt like home, and Travis was sure to point out to all of his Japanese co-workers that I am very familiar with the smell of cow poo. Thanks, Travis. 

Here we are with some of Travis' co-workers.

That evening, we headed to the Nagoya Dome to watch a Chunichi Dragons' game.

Aren't you impressed with our team spirit?! We had a great time and enjoyed some good eats, too. It was a perfect way to end an amazing time with some great friends. I am so happy Mike and Maya came to visit us. We made some fabulous memories together!

Road Trip Part 2

Better late than never, right?

Off we went to Kobe! Kobe was a really nice city, and we had a great time. Our main goal for Kobe was to enjoy some infamous Kobe beef, and that we did. We were able, with the help of our hotel's concierge, to find a reasonably priced steakhouse. The steak was outrageously delicious. I'm not one to get too excited about red meat (Sorry, Dad.), but it was absolutely amazing. 

This photo is of the beef shortly after it was placed on the grill. It was cooked to perfection and then cut into bite-sized pieces. MMMMmmmm.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed to a local izakaya (a casual bar) where we enjoyed good conversation. Some of which included some brainstorming for our new business ventures. Watch out, world!

The next morning, we headed to Kobe's port to soak up some sun and let our hair blow.

Our next stop was Chinatown. While there, we feasted on some yummy Chinese food for lunch. One funny experience worth noting is that the wait staff at the restaurant where we dined must have assumed we knew no Japanese because as they led us to our table, which happened to be located upstairs, they announced over the intercom that some foreigners were on their way up. Who says that?

After that, we went to a sake museum and learned how sake is processed from start to finish. Following the presentation, we were able to sample various types of sake. I'm not a big sake fan, but it was interesting to try a few variations even if they were all gross.

And, here's a photo of the Hartman family posed in front of some booze. 

After returning to Nagoya for a brief night's sleep, we ventured to the neighboring town of Gujo-Hachiman, which just so happens to be famous for manufacturing artificial food.

Check out this bowl of ramen. There is no way one would ever suspect it to be fake. I am continually amazed by the authenticity of the artificial food created here. Outside of almost every restaurant is a display of the food you can purchase inside. It is all made from wax and plastic, but it looks so real! And, once you receive the food you order, it will look exactly like the display! Great, right?

While in Gujo-Hachiman, we were able to try our hands at making our own food.

In this photo Maya and I are creating tempura batter for shrimp and a variety of vegetables. The tempura is made from wax and is then draped over the shrimp and veggies.

Here is the finished product cooling in a bowl of water.

After making our tempura shrimp and vegetables, we made lettuce.

Travis cradled his lettuce to perfection.

After making plastic food, we took a short hike to Gujo Hachiman Castle. 

And, Mike and Maya posed in front of the castle for us. 

Still to come: Kyoto, a BBQ and a Nagoya Dragons game!