She Says: When Kyoto Attacks...

We are seriously blessed to know the people we do, meeting them through chance and internet happenstance.
Having just spent 48 hours in the company of Deya and Chris in Okinawa these sort of things are brought to the forefront and we smile and thank the Universe for holding up people and going "Hey, they're cool, I'm gonna toss them together with you, okay?"
At this point in the game we holler back "You bet your sweet damn bippy! BRING IT!" And the Universe, ever obliging, does bring it and we have awesome adventures as a result.
A quick and lazy rundown of Akihabara and Travel Day:
Akihabara. Wow. It's like that section of New York where you can buy Rolex watches and nice CD players at such a good price you really really don't want to know where they got them. The crowning gem of this, though, was the Yodobashi store. 11 floors of electronic love and a few small non-electronic things in the forms of puzzles for children and anime figurines. So. Many. Anime. Figurines.
We ran through an arcade and got our pictures taken in the "pink zone" a place where girls are supposed to be the only ones... unless the guy is with a girl. Bob and I promptly decided we HAD to have a collection of shots inside one of their booths.
By the way, Japanese photo-booth technology blows away US technology once more, starting with the ~lightning~. We looked awesome with the multi-directional diffusers. Once you take the pictures you get to choose frames and effects and you can add things like hearts on everything. Terribly cute but I flailed at doing anything with it since the instructions were in Japanese. We finally just got it to print them out for us and off we went.
Bob later managed to get an AvP facehugger model out of one of the crane-machines downstairs. I only managed to knock stuffed animals around a lot and lose $10.
We also played a rather interesting game that supposedly used infra red and motion sensors such that our controllers were whips and we fought our way through a castle accordingly. Made it past the first boss to the second, then both died horribly and opted not to renew. Still a rather good time.
Lunch was tempura, and we made our way to Yodobashi where we ran up 8 floors staring at beautiful electronics and gorgeous TV screens. I didn't manage to find the camera I'd been hoping for but did get my hands on Taiko no Tetsujin a game for the DS where you use two sticks to tap on a drum in time to some J-Pop. It was played later that evening with much giggling.
After that we rushed the distance from Kyoto to Osaka in the matter of a few hours via Shinkansen and the glorious JR rail system. On the trip we actually managed to catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji and something called the Sanyo Solar Ark, which was a complete surprise and rather impressive to boot. Apparently it's an entire building that is also a ginormous solar panel!
Also to accomplish this time table we actually leapt in to the fray and got on a train from Shinjuku in the heart of rush hour when people pack the trains like sardines, literally. Some poor young man had his face parked inches from my armpit as I hung on for dear life to my monkey-ring hanging from the ceiling trying not to fall. He didn't even flinch. Nobody did. And it turns out that navigating when the trains are packed like that actually isn't the huge deal some have made it out to be. I wouldn't do it again, but my claustrophobia was short-circuited in the midst of that ride and I don't think it'll hit me again in that circumstance now. Happy things, happy things...
A 2 hour plane ride later and we found ourselves landing in the gloriously sunny land of Okinawa. Ms. Deya met us outside and proceeded to drive our tired butts back to her place in what is the most singularly adorable car I have ever seen, a Daihatsu "Move". It's a cube on wheels and she maneuvered that thing on a dime.
Once home and meeting Chris for the first time IRL, he plied us with an awesome meal of brisket, mashed potatoes and roasted corn on the cob. Having consumed seafood in raw and fried forms for the majority of the past several days it was a welcome break. (Not that we mind the raw fish, but a lot of you know my soft spot for potato products.)
A viewing of Spirited Away and Journey to the Center of the Earth later and we crashed for the night. The bed and pillows were actually soft, another nice change from where we'd been in Tokyo for the past few days.
I think I'm going to link the pictures and call it good, will continue to update later but I would rather go in to detail and do it justice than just get it slapped down because I'm tired.
If you clicky here you can see Akihabara pictures.
If you clicky here you can see travel day pictures.
Our hotel room is nice and has an awesome shower-room setup thingie that is very fun to use.
And a last thought, there are a LOT of gaijin around in Kyoto, more than I expected after the Westerner Wasteland of Tokyo. It was odd to be greeted by a Westerner in the lobby who actually also worked for the hotel. Everyone at the desk spoke English, too, and there were more white folk being checked in than asian folk. That's a complete 180 from the Tokyo hotel.
Time to pass out. Okinawa and travel day #2 in the morning, promise. It's easier to do now that we aren't running around having fun constantly...