A Good Day for a Lie-In

I've finally found an internet connection. Unfortunately, it's nowhere near the house. In fact, it's at a frikkin' FedEx Kinko's in Kyoto. But I guess it doesn't matter since I leave for Shimoda tomorrow anyway. And let's face it - I'm having plenty of fun NOT geeking out. But there's so much I want to share, and so much that I'm excited about.

Despite all the excitement, it's finally good to get some rest. It's raining out, I'm fighting off a bit of a cold, and I've been going almost non-stop since last Tuesday night, before leaving the States. It was really nice to get 11+ hours of sleep. Especially with the pitter patter of rain out. I just feel really guilty about it. I finally got up and Aunt Hiroko started pulling out this big breakfast spread for me. She told me, in Japanese, "I don't know what you like for breakfast, so I made a little of everything." Liar. I told her last night that I'm fine with coffee and bread.

Instead, there was:

• buttered baguette


• lavash flatbread


• corn bread (not what you think.. it's soft white bread with corn kernels in it)


• yogurt


• hard-boiled eggs


• bacon


• sautéed cabbage


• salad


• apples


• grapefruit

Not wanting to be a bad guest, I had a little bit of each (ok, all of the bacon), and I thoroughly enjoyed this intriguing, nonsensical mix of foods. I'd kinda rather had my agreed upon coffee and bread, though, or the traditional Japanese rice and miso soup. As I was feasting on this mish-mash of food, I was watching the news, enjoying the commercials in particular, until one ad came on for Kewpie mayonnaise... with half the fat! UGH! Now I'm not a big fan of mayo, but I do love Japanese-style Kewpie mayo. And to see it being marketed in a reduced fat version broke my heart. The next commercial break, I nearly sobbed. They now have a cholesterol free version, too. What. The. Fukumoto.

Aunt Hiroko took notice of the fact that I was watching the commercials intently. She said to me, "When you were little, you always liked the commercials. You'd be running around or playing the piano or whatever, but as soon as the commercials came on you'd run to the TV. My grandchildren now do that, too." Heh. Who knew I was always a little marketing whore?

Anyway, I've gotta let Makoto use the computer for a bit. This Kinko's business is costing me an arm and two legs, but at least I'm finally online. We've been exploring Kyoto all day and I'm beat, but not too beat to give you guys an update.

As for the rest of Kyoto, you'll just have to wait 'til I can get online again.

Mata ashta...