Japan.

What is the first thing that comes to mind?

Perhaps, thanks to The Last Samurai and Tom Cruise, it's samurai which might lead you to think ninja, leading me to our next adventure – a ninja house. Secret passageways, trap doors, and hidden staircases. Sounds cool, right? It would have been much more enjoyable if our tour guide wasn't grumpy and uptight. It might have been a bad day for him. I'm not entirely sure. We did get a real kick out of him though. His tour talk mostly consisted of what not to touch and why followed by a detailed description of people who touched what they were not to touch. It was quite humorous actually.

Nijo jinya is an inn that was constructed sometime between 1661-1672. The apparatuses that the ninja constructed for quick-escape are quite interesting. The inn can be seen by appointment only and it is required that those who cannot speak Japanese bring a translator with them. On our tour there was also an extended family from California with a Japanese translator as well as 2 Japanese girls. Jon and I took turns translating for Mom and Dad. The tour was 1000 Yen which is a bit steep. The rooms were very tiny and the group too large so only a select few could actually see anything besides the hallways. I think the family from California found mine and Jon's straightforward translation to be much more interesting than what their translator had to say. They didn't know this but their translator had her own tour guide speech and elaborated on and/or didn't translate much of what the man was saying. For instance, she didn't even mention the "don’t touch" sector of the tour. When they couldn't hear their translator and they heard Jon and I translating for Mom and Dad, some of the people began to listen in. One of the women asked Mom, "Is that a family member or your translator?"

All grumpiness and squishiness aside, we had a good time. After the ninja house, we proceded to Kinkaku-ji – The Golden Pavilion. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating and the pavilion wasn't shining into the surrounding water. Still, it was quite beautiful.

The best part of the day for me, had to be the real life porcilin dolls – the Geisha. Actually, they were most likely maiko, or apprentice geisha. We saw quite a few of these treasures slipping in and out of the teahouses. They are so elegant and poised and fast. It is nearly impossible to get a good picture of a Maiko. We tried, nonetheless.

After a difficult week of vacationing, we decided to call it an early night and thus begun the Angie and Steve versus Jon and Nancy Kaiser war.