Ryan:

It's been a while since our last real email. Sorry. It's been tough getting internet I can access through my laptop, and our plan of stopping at a 7/11 to leech off their wireless hotspots won't really work as there is no loitering allowed, and no benches or seats on any streets, save the very rare seat-equipped bus stop. The last true update you got from us was while we were still staying in the Oak Hotel hostel in Ueno, on the outskirts of central Tokyo. We've gone quite far since then, as this message will entail. The remainder of the photos as well as the photos taken since, will be coming to you either in this letter or in the near future.  Uploading them is easy and quick, but attaching them is ponderous with hotmail.

We headed West, to Nagoya, by bus. It was about six hours, but we had three brief stops to stretch, go to the washroom and grab a snack from a vendor or vending machine.  At one of these stops we finally decided to try a weird snack we've seen everywhere. It looks like three white balls, possibly scallops, on a skewer, covered in teryaki. What it actually is, is balls of cooked rice dough covered in a teryaki like sweet sauce. Kind of like the Japanese equivalent of  bannock (sp?) bread.  They're pretty good, but the texture got to me by the second stick, as they are quite soft/gooey. Jenna was more than happy to relieve me of the remainder of my half. The bus ride was relaxing and went through some very beautiful mountain forests and past many valley towns, as well as giving us a magnificent view of central, downtown Tokyo as we left and a very nice view of Tokyo harbour and the ocean.

When the bus was pulling into Nagoya, we were sorely disappointed. For the twenty minutes it took to get to city centre things only got worse. The whole city is belching smokestacks, rusting liquid/gas container filled industrial yards, drab coloured, uninspired buildings, and filth. It's the first place we've seen more than one piece of litter on a street. The first bums we've seen are here and there are many. The city smells of pollution and warm garbage, and even after walking some distance, we weren't able to find anything that looked "nice". Also, the people here all walk slowly and with their heads down, like they're downtrodden, and they don't have nearly the level of care for or detail in their appearance. Where Tokyo was all fashion and perfectly pressed/primped/styled/spiked/accessorized everything, Nagoya's citizens are as bland as the architecture here. Mostly the buildings are prefabricated, as well. There aren't many pictures from Nagoya. What we did enjoy, however, was the Denny's dinner of a BLT sandwich (three bites) and a Swiss cheese and hash-brown sandwich (same size, came together) for me, and soggy but sweet French Toast for Jenna. We also split a fantastic ramen, which had Japanese style lamb in it.

After dinner, we hopped on a train (thanks to a very kind and bemused businessman) bound for Inuyama City. City wouldn't be the word Jenna or I would use. The city is split across two river banks, and everything retail is on the opposite side from us. The only way there is to cross huge bridges by car, far down the river from where the station was. Hostels, hotels, and residential areas were on our side. Our hostel, the International Youth Hostel, was about half an hour from the station to the bottom of the hill, and about another half hour up the hill. Unfortunately, we arrived at the station in the dark, and the English signs ran out at the bottom of the hill, at a little rest area. I explored the lower path while Jenna started up the hill,  and we met back at the rest stop with no success. After a while (10 minutes or so) and kindly older couple pulled over in a car to enjoy the rest stop. We asked them for directions and they offered to take us and all our gear up the hill to the hostel. After many thanks and much bowing (from both parties), we hauled our gear into the front office of the hostel. Oh yeah, she kept apologizing and bowing because they had obviously been shopping and her car was "messy". It was far better than most cars you'll see in our wash bay and all the "mess" was simply retail shopping bags.

The International Youth Hostel in Inuyama is not what we'd call a hostel. It's more like a Japanese style hotel. It had spacious Japanese style rooms, a Western toilet (with a sink on top, to wash your hands as it filled the tank for the next flush... genious!) room (not as spacious), and a bathroom and (food!) vending machines across the hall. I found out the following morning that downstairs were the bathing rooms, which (at least on the men's side) consisted of a changing area, lockers, shower room, bathing room, cleansing room, and steam bath, which led to a Japanese indoor onsen, overlooking a valley from a large window. I was the only one in there as the hostel is largely unbooked (probably from people not being able to find it), so it was a very private and very pleasant experience. All boiled-crab pink and relaxed, I met Jenna for (Japanese style) breakfast in the dining room/hall.  It was.... different. We each got a Mandarin orange (delicious), a spiced seaweed salad (I thouroughly enjoyed it, Jenn not so much), some pickled yellow vegetable (picture a soft, seedless cucumber was used, very good), a pickled prune (pickled so much a full plum wasn't rounder than a quarter. It was very good, but you simply cannot keep a straight face while eating it, Jenn didn't finish hers), Miso soup (I didn't partake, Jenna ate my bowl), a pot of rice (about three bowls each, filling & tasty), candied, baked salmon (amazing!), tea (duh), and an, um, egg. Picture someone did a half-ass job of hard-boiling an egg, and then threw the (mostly whole) remnants into a small bowl with vinegar. I took a small bite and no more, while Jenn bravely downed most of the egg in one bite before realizing her mistake.

After breakfast we toured the area (including the hike down) and found a "Cultural Sharing Pavillion", which consisted of an outdoor stage and three picnic tables. There was an older couple enjoying lunch at the picnic tables and a bum sleeping on the stage. We also found that there really wasn't anything to eat on our side of the river, and were thankful we still had plenty of food between the supplies at the inn and our packs.  We did, however, head to Inuyamajou, the local castle, for a breath-taking view of what remains of the castle grounds. The stairs inside were basically wooden ladders, and the interior was spartan but well laid out. The grounds were small, as pretty much only the final gate and main keep were still standing, but the view from the fourth story balcony was astounding and we were glad to see an original (not reconstructed) castle. After the castle we visited the nearby temple and shrine, were we took many photos of the protective dog statues and other cool things. (See photos).  I twisted my bad knee in a pot hole, and we had to sit down at the side of the road (oh no! loitering!) for a few minutes before moving on. Once we got back down the mountain the castle & shrines were on, and climbed back up the mountain our hostel was on, Jenn massaged the numbness out of me knee (how nice. It's not causing any other issues, by the way, and is currently still fine - Oct 31). 

/>The next day we hiked back down the small mountain and hopped on our first shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. We wound up in a hostel called Riverside Takase, as the place we reserved at told us we would have to spend each of our three planned nights in a different room, with one night us sleeping in separate single rooms. Takase sucks. The tatami floor is uneven and soft in spots (which is important, because it's also the bottom of your bed), the owner removes your laundry from the hostel machines to put his own in (his house is next door), our last night booked got cancelled on us, and as I previously mentioned, no web access save a confusing desktop terminal at the end of the only hallway and roach infestation (at least in the shower room).  We got there very late in the day, so didn't go out, and on the second day (Oct 30th), we stayed in due to my health. A day of chicken soup, hot tea, naps, and no hiking did me well, and we were ready to motor for our Halloween Day adventure.

By the way, every food store has pumpkin and Halloween or Fall specials and menu items, and in major cities every pub/bar/shot club has costume parties/contests/price reductions. They do not, however, trick or treat or wish anyone happy Halloween. Jenna says it's because asking someone you don't know for candy isn't polite (you know the Japanese), but I think it's 'cause they still haven't quite figured it out. We left Riverside Takase and headed to the hostel we are currently in (Unato International Youth Hostel), which is absolutely astounding. The place is huge, well decorated and maintained, clean, new, in a very, very nice section of town, and our room has free TV (not that we watch it, really), two beds, is bigger than anything since the Holiday Inn, private bathroom with shower/bath, and our own ground floor balcony. The common area includes a cafeteria sized kitchen, internet terminals (I'm piggy-backing off their wireless signal so we don't have to pay), and all the other basic services. It's also only 6600 yen per night (plus meals), which makes it pretty much the cheapest hostel/hotel we've been able to find.  The only catch is that we'll have to throw our big bags into lockers and sleep in the dorm tomorrow and possibly the next night as they're overbooked. Sounds fair, no one else in Kyoto can take us, and you can't beat the price here.

On our first day out & about in (Western) Kyoto, Jenn & I familiarized ourselves with their bus system and what's around our hostel and the station. We got Jenn's traveller's cheques changed and located the post office too. We scoped out some temples & shrines (there are tons in Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan), and have some picked for viewing if not entering. Also, Jenn wants to do a "maiko" (Geisha apprentice) thing where they dress you like a maiko and take pictures. I think you also get to learn some tea ceremony and whatnot, but the hostel puts in on, so it's safe and less than half the price of doing it at some roadside places advertising "real Japan" (some places wanted as much as 90,000yen!! You should see the price for the geisha programs!!!). Oh yeah, we had dinner at a Big Boy restaurant tonight simply because it blew our minds that there was one here. I don't know if the little guy had family in the States, but over here he has two love interests and parents, all who are mascots for something or other. Jenn had what she thought was a steak dinner, but turned out to be a grilled hamburger patty (2) meal with onions, potatoes, and broccoli, bread & carrots, with the meat sizzling away in a garlic sauce. I took a bite and have to tell you I've never tasted better hamburger meat or garlic sauce, and this was at a fast food restaurant. Mine was (I think) grilled flank steak (more tender than any other meat I've eaten) with onion sauce and the same "sides" as Jenn, with the addition of some rice. Definately will be going back there, as the price was incredible given what we got, and the food was exquisite. Still, a busy day ahead of us, so I must be logging off. Pictures to follow or come attached, depending on the time I have.

Jenna:

S'up? Happy Halloween to you all - nothing much happened here last night (our halloween).
Kev, please update me on the animals of the house! I really want to see pics! :) I miss them so.
Anyhow, hope everyone is well :)
Talk to you later! 
xoxo
Jenn

ps: we made a little mistake... *sigh* The Canadian Embasy is in Tokyo.... guess where we're going again? *grumble*