For the past two weeks I've been having ridiculous troubles with my cellular telephone. I never imagined I'd be so reliant on such a small and technologically advanced crutch, but you know whey say about never saying never: When In Rome. In the U.S. I went cell-phone-less for quite some time. But here in Tokyo my Sanyo V401SA is my lifeline. It has a 1.3 megapixel camera, email and texting abilities (in Japanese and Roman and other characters sets), access to the internet, one keen finger on the pulse of the train and bus systems all over Japan (all I do is input a point and preferred time of departure and arrival and viola -- my phone spits the three or four of the cheapest and/or most convenient routes to anywhere in Japan), and it can make phone calls. BUT I left my charger in Kyoto, thus setting off a week of agony and distance from the world. I just don't know what to do with myself! Without a fully functioning phone, I am a social Outkast. It's not like I can just talk to people. . . face to face . . . can I?! Help!

Kyoto! Was. Fantastic. It was awhile ago, but here's a brief recap: Andy and I arrived in Kyoto on a Wednesday afternoon. We checked in at the Gojo and immediately explored the city, eatching green tea soft-o cream-o and stopping for dinner in Gion. We got to see some momoko (apprentice geishas), who looked beautiful if not pained. We also scoped out Kiyomizudera by night, but it was closed. The next day we went to every possible famous Kyoto tourist spot, by bus and foot: Kiyomizudera (one of my favorites, I think), Kinkakuji, Ryoanji, Ginkakuji, and Fushimi Inari (at night, which was scary. The shrine grounds cover an entire hillside featuring paths through tunnels of red torri. It's surreal and creepy and awesome). Day three we hopped on the shinkansen for Himejijo, the oldest and largest intact castle in Japan, which was interesting in its own old, timbery and aromatic way. Then we went to Kurama and hiked to Kibune to see the most fantastic (and pricey) restaurants this side of the Mississippi. Imagine tatami mats suspended over a mountain stream, surrounded by paper lanterns and flanked by silk screens, all open-air. They were charming. We, sadly, were forced to eat near our hostel due to price constraints. Lastly lastly, Saturday morning, we went to Nijo Jinya, an old samurai-style house, which was interesting but hot as the dickens. And thence (?) began our Fuji adventure, not for the faint of heart. So that's Kyoto in a paragraph.

My Japanese language is getting good. Hey, everybody! Come see how good I look . . . I mean, how good my Japanese is. Everybody.