My travels through Oklahoma, Route 66, and beyond
12/1 Jowl, Jyunkei – Served at our favorite meat-on-sticks place in Osaka, Jowl was a tough and well-seasoned beef-type meat that I enjoyed thoroughly. 12/3 Margherite Pizza – Margherita Pizza is like a cheese pizza, but in Italy, it’s totally different. It’s the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. Who’d have thought I enjoyed basil so … Continue reading Rhys’ New Foods List – December
11/1 - Takoyaki: Bits of octopus fried in doughy balls with MOLTEN insides. Tasted a bit like extra-rubbery shrimp. Not a fan. 11/2 - French Fry Chips, Udon: The french fry-shaped-and-flavored chips were bizarrely accurate, and salty. Liked 'em, as you would have guessed. Udon are super-thick noodles that I enjoyed somewhat, but not tremendously. … Continue reading Rhys’ New Foods List – November
You may (or may not) have noticed that almost all of the Japan blogs were written by Rhys; this was intentional, as his eyes were new for Japan, so I felt he would be able to write more interesting blogs. However, it was an interesting perspective to revisit the same areas (and many new ones) … Continue reading Japan Redux
Our last day on the Shinkansen took us to Kyoto. We spent the day touring various temples, seeing a dry rock garden, and looking at the magnificent colors of the leaves. Kyoto is known for the red maple trees of autumn and we caught the start of it. We also met an engineer from Boston … Continue reading Kyoto and Leaving Home Again
After visiting Hiroshima, we desperately needed a happy jump-start type day to bounce back. Luckily, we had purchased tickets to the Studio Ghibli Museum in Tokyo and took the Shinkansen there two days ago. Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio founded by the famous director Hayao Miyazaki and has produced absolutely wonderful animation for … Continue reading Studio Ghibli Museum in Tokyo
In final preparation for going to the Studio Ghibli Museum in Tokyo yesterday, I loaded my iPhone up with these two films to view in the bullet train to/from various points in Japan, hoping to get them viewed in time. And I did! Laputa - Castle in the Sky I'll start this off by … Continue reading Double Review: Laputa – Castle in the Sky and Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind
I've thought a lot before sitting down to write this entry. It's been a few days now and I think I can write about it as objectively as I possibly can. The day started out as so many this last week have: an early rise followed by a lot of time on the Shinkansen. Though … Continue reading Hiroshima
We've added another mode of transportation to our long list of conveyances: Shinkansen. That's 'bullet train' for you Westerners. It's a wonderful experience to be zipping along at 200+ MPH, though it's a little unnerving at first to see the landscape moving so quickly yet not feel the train moving. It took us about three … Continue reading Shinkansen to Tokyo
Indi and I are happy to report that we have been joined for the next week+ by one of our best friends! Nikki and her husband, Brad, took the road trip to California with us back in April and waved goodbye from Long Beach as we set out on the cargo ship to New Zealand...which … Continue reading The Nikki has Landed
Kiki's Delivery Service Another one of Indi's favorites. I sat down prepared for a cute animated film and was not disappointed. I don't think it carried near the heft that Totoro did as far as the story is concerned, as it felt like a more traditional fish-out-of-water coming-of-age story, just in a slightly fantastical reality. … Continue reading Double Review: Kiki’s Delivery Service / Howl’s Moving Castle
Rhys' Pieces 