Green Tea

I walked into my office on Friday morning and found someone had left me a gift. I quickly opened it and saw a Japanese style ceramic tea cup and inside it was a little red package of green tea from Kyoto. What a coincidence!

Here is a blurry photo of the items, which I was too lazy to retake (sorry):


Just an fyi: The tea is from the region of Uji, which is south of central Kyoto. Fortunately, this place is on my itinerary as I am set on visiting the Torii gates. So excited! I'm sure I'll have a similar picture to share.

JR Group

Let me just explain briefly about the Shinkansen. The Shinkansen (bullet train) is a high speed bullet train developed by the Japan Railways Group. Japan's public transportation system is quite sophisticated, I suppose compared to Los Angeles. There are several Shinkansen's that travel to different regions in Japan. First, I will be traveling from Tokyo to Kyoto. Then from Kyoto to Hiroshima and from Hiroshima to Fukuoka. Finally, I'll travel from Fukuoka to Tokyo (I fly in & out of Tokyo). The link explains the types of Shinkansen available for travel and a map of their destinations: http://www.japanrail.com/JR_shinkansen.html

The JR Group has a rail pass called the "JR Rail Pass" which is only for tourist and it can only be purchased outside of Japan. They have 7-day, 14-day, and 21-day passes. I calculated my travels by the single ticket options but quickly realized that the JR Pass is much more economically for me. The cost for the passes are kind of steep but if you are traveling long distance it's worth investing in one.

I heard the Shinkansen passes by Fuji-san but as I will be there during the rainy/hot/humid season it might not be visable from the train. Hopefully, I will be able see it but I'll find out soon enough.

Can't wait!

As the days pass all I've been thinking about is my travels to Japan but I have a butt load of things to complete before my departure. I suppose this blog is for my own reference so piss off ;)