JAL to Kyoto

This year we visited Kyoto and even stayed at a traditional ryokan.   This meant sleeping on futon on tatami floor.  The ryokan was on the street leading up to one of largest and most important temples in Kyoto.

 Kiyomizusanso is a restored house built in the old japanese style with shoji doors, tatami floors and steep stairs.

Luckily our taxi driver knew exactly where to go.   As we learned on subsequent rides, these narrow little alleyways are not well-known,  even with GPS.

Remote as it appears,  it was steps away from Sannenzaka,  a popular and busy walkway (and road) .  As we walked down this path,  the noise of tourists was left behind.  Our room was quiet and peaceful and overlooked the back road and neighboring houses.  No traffic, no kids playing,  no cars coming and going.  Such a contrast to our life in Honolulu. 

JAL was worth it

We were so pleased with the courteous  service on Japan Airlines.   From check in they accommodated my request to sit together.   The exit row was great,   no one blocking us, wide seats, flip up monitor and delicious food.  My usual pocketbook for reading  was put aside. Being short I'm not able to see the monitor so always pass on the movie; reading instead. Having my own screen I  caught up with missed episodes of Bones and NCIS all the way across the Pacific. Yippeee.
Arriving at Narita with no other international flights was terrific.  No lines in immigration,  customs or limo bus to city.  All in all was a very relaxing flight and arrival.

Packing for Tokyo

October means fall, means changes in weather  and not knowing to pack warm clothes or lightweight summer stuff.  I'm not talking fashion, I mean comfortable.   Guess it's layers, for under as well as over.  Most important are my shoes.  Tokyo is a major walking city.  Packing my Joya shoes and sandals.  Wearing Fitflops knit loafer on the plane.  With age, have noticed my feet swell during flight.  My husband confessed to the same.  Also for him, jeans in stretch denim is a must.

Two tickets to Tokyo

Finally going on vacation, after two years of not leaving the island.  Replacing original stove, dryer and refrigerator kinda kept us home bound.
After much procrastination,  bought tickets on JAL.  Next stop TOKYO!  Four years between visits!  Meeting up with friends, looking forward to sightseeing,  eating and shopping.

Ever been in a political campaign?

I've purposely avoided writing about the past four political campaigns I've worked on.  The first one was purely for the fun of it.  Then I got excited about actually working in a legislative office, during the 4 month session of the Hawaii State House of Representatives.  The second campaign came too quickly; Reps have to run for re-election every 2 years.  Jump ahead to 2016.  The years in between flew by as I avoided mentioning anything about campaigning.

This is the 5th and hopefully last run for re-election for me!  The political machinations are not pretty, perhaps that's the reason for my not writing. 

Another milestone, benchmark or reality check

Began Medicare filing online this morning. A rite  of passage?

Pool going, going gone

It was my wish to have a pool of my own, ever since I can remember.   So when we built our house,  I finally achieved my goal.  
We all loved it, had many fun times with friends and family.   Mom and Dad enjoyed playing in it too. 
Ahhhh, life changes.  
The former pool is becoming a yard/garden again.    Being filled as I write this week.   No photos please.   Maybe later.   Bittersweet.