WhataWeekend

Weekends are so short here in Japan. I'm so used to working at a place where weekends don't really exist... you just kind of make your own weekend whenever you feel like having one. I don't like this real people work schedule haha.
So Friday night I went to Himeji again. We went to this cute bar where the bartender makes the biggest Long Island Ice Tea you've ever seen in your entire life. Don't drink too many cuz you'll waste all the next day recovering, and miss playing frisbee and going to a lantern festival. Unhappy times.
Sunday was a bit more happy. I went to Kyoto for the day to go to something something Inari something shrine. haha I'm so ridiculously bad with Japanese names. I'll look it up. If you've seen Memoirs of a Geisha there's this part where she's running through this tunnel of orangeness... that's what this place is. A bzillion tori (I think that's right) gates that go on forever through woods. It's more or less mosquito capital of the world. I have 20 bites on my left lower leg. That doesn't count my right lower leg and the rest of me. However, the mosquitos seemed content to chow down on my shins and leave most of the rest of me alone. *thinking positive*
Despite being eaten alive, it was beautiful. Very peaceful. It was a bit of a trek through the woods though...about a billion stairs that ALL went UP. But worth it. Afterwards there was wandering around Kyoto. We ended up in Gion, geisha district, but I didn't see any geisha. Only a random Japanese Irish band. They were pretty good actually. I may have bought their CD had it not cost 2000 yen ($20ish). We had dinner at this fantastic Thai restaurant right on the river. You have to pay like $5/person to sit outside, but it was soooooooooooo worth it. The weather was absolutely amazing and we were literally on a deck that hung out over the river. The food was incredible as well. We were fat gaijin and ate way too much but it was amazing and I don't care anymore. That is probably officially my favorite restaurant EVER. I will never find it again lol. I don't even know the name of it. Yay for me and my directionally, locationally challenged self.
We ended up missing the last train back to Kobe (::shakes fist at Japan and non-24-hour transportation system::) and spent the evening sitting by the river waiting for first train. Had trouble finding a cab to the station, had to stand most of the way back while being miserable from lack of sleep, and was late for work. My b.
Overall, worth it. Probably my favorite weekend so far :)