It Seems Like Ages Ago...

Man in the Moon Pub, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

Yeah, it does seem like ages ago when I had lunch at the Man in the Moon pub in Kyoto. I did a fair bit of traveling after that. Went to Koyasan, Kotohira (home of the famous "Konpira-san" temple), Matsuyama, Okayama and then Tokyo. Of all those, the place which took the most energy out of me was Tokyo. The hustle and bustle of the big metropolis didn't jive with me after all the running around across the countryside of Kansai and Shikoku.

As for Kyoto...it was fine. The days were a bit long given that we attended 6am service at Nishi-Hongwanji each morning. When I say "we" I mean my mother and her two travel companions from Vancouver who had come over to Japan as the Vancouver Buddhist temple group tour for 2012. The original plan had been to for a group from the temple to come over in 2011 but the March 11 disaster derailed that. Nonetheless I managed to visit two spots I haven't visited previously; Toji and Arashiyama. Both were nice but I think I'd like to visit Arashiyama when the season is fall. The autumn foliage is supposed to be very colourful up there.

As for the Man in the Moon pub: the grub is okay and they have a somewhat limited selection of draught beers. I read that their other location is better. But I won't write this location off as a disappointment. It has a nice cozy atmosphere and I could enjoy my pint of Guinness while reading the Japan Times and watching a football match. Can't complain about that...