Wandered up to Kiyomizu-dera yesterday: a temple founded in 778. The view of Kyoto from the pagoda is breathtaking. Overlooking the city there’s an architectural gradient from the ancient to the modern. Like many Buddhist temples in Kyoto, the gardens have a dense canopy covering the paths. I found a spot where the pagoda was peeking through the trees.

I made it to the top of Mount Hiei, a sacred mountain in Japan. At the top, I met a guy from Toronto. Canadians are everywhere.

Photograph of the the moment I consider giving it all up to become a tea-farmer. Maren recommended coming to @obubuteafarms for a tour of their estate. The tea tasting we had was so memorable because we also got to see the whole process: from tending to the bushes, to harvesting and processing! I even learned a few new brewing techniques 🍵

Yesterday I went to Kinkaju-ji: the golden pavilion. I got there early to beat the crowds of tourists, and it was filled with school-kids instead! A group of them wanted to take a picture with me. I’m still not sure why 😂 maybe it was a school assignment?

Today we went to tokyo SkyTree. Surprisingly, it was quite nice and relatively relaxed. There were few people despite the today being the start of Golden Week. The air was filled with smog, so we couldn't see too far, but the weather was decent, so we got a reasonable view of the city.

We had lunch at a little shop on the 340th floor of the tower.

Under the tower is a massive shopping complex. Some of the more experimental brands were hilarious. I found a sweatsher with a frame from Harry Potter on it: Ronald Weasley on a couch, pouting. It looked like one of those fruit of the loom sweatshirts people used to get photos printed on in the 90s.'

The Okinawa airport has orchids all over the airport, even in all the jetways leading to the plane. It’s a nice way to be greeted when you land 🌸

On my way to Kyoto via Hello Kitty Train!

One of the most frustrating aspects of traveling with friends who are men is having your change, or your tickets, or even your passport handed off to the man. Doesn’t matter if you are booked and paying separately, the dude gets your stuff.

Last day of diving in Okinawa. I’m glad I decided to pack my dive computer last-minute. Exploring the reef in Okinawa has been an absolute treat—so much life!

On to Kyoto!

Unexpected upside to traveling in a country who’s language you don’t understand: all location-based ads are effectively blocked by being uninterpretable.

It’s like Lorem Ipsum.