Our visit to Taipei and Taiwan was spurred by a corporate meeting but we chose to come in a day early to see Taipei and stay a day afterwards to see a little of the island outside of its biggest city. We contacted Yolo Taiwan (https://www.yolo-taiwan.com) regarding tours and were pleasantly surprised by the driver/guide they offered to us, Alan. They scheduled both tours for us. Our first tour was on a…
It took a little over two hours to reach Kyoto from Tokyo on the Shinkansen bullet train which departs from Tokyo Station. We took the first train out at 6:00 am which meant no breakfast and met up with Kenji Matsuyama, a Government Licensed Tour Guide Interpreter (km_rugger@yahoo.co.jp) at the Kyoto Main Station. We asked a security official where a clock tower was that we were looking for as the place to…
We attended a Geisha performance arranged through Japan Awaits (www.japanawaits.com). We were served a full meal including sake, which will become important when we discuss the performance. We learned that Geisha translates into ‘performing artist’. The first Geishas were men, who performed at formal occasions starting in the 1700s. They were soon replaced by women who were better at the range of performance skills which includes dancing to music played by traditional…
We arrived at Narita airport and went straight to the bright red bannered JR East Travel Service Center to purchase tickets on the Narita Express (N’EX) train to Tokyo Station. The staff at JR (which I believe stands for Japan Rail) was fluent in English and provided excellent service, answering our questions and ensuring we had the right tickets to reserve seats, be on a train we could next make and knew…
We met friends at the Blair House Inn, 100 W. Spoke Hill Drive in Wimberley 78676 (www.blairhouseinn.com). The inn is an interesting Bed and Breakfast. But it is more than most. It has an on premise spa, art gallery and a culinary school. While breakfast is available every day from 8:30 to 9:30, dinner is only on Saturday at 7:00 and is generally a five course event paired with Texas wine.…