I slept in a little today and didn't take advantage of the included breakfast, which is actually pretty substantial compared to the last hostel:  miso soup, two kinds of rice, and various breads and croissant.  Instead, I opted for this very unhealthy convenience store hot dog and one of those fantastic pre-packaged ham and cheese sandwiches (I really like those) that have the dual pricing, which I have yet to understand.  I think that the lower price is valid the day the sandwich is about to expire.  I'm going to ask someone today...

I had lunch outside of the Inari Shrine at a pretty simple restaurant.  I got two orders of pot-stickers, the first was pork and cabbage and the second was jalapeno pepper.

​Dinner was also simple.  I tried to go to a very popular and cheap sushi place in the train station but the line was way out the door.  So I settled for fried chicken and cole slaw next door.  Not bad...

I'm shacking up at the Piece Hostel in Kyoto for three nights, which was recommended by a roommate in Tokyo.  I couldn't get the same room for all three, so I was in a six bunk dorm for the first night and now a four bunk dorm for the last two.  The beds are huge and have US-style outlets to charge my laptop, my iPad, my iPhone, my Fitbit...  I may need to jettison the iPad at some point.  After buying a pair of shower sandals, I'm running out of room in the backpacks.  This place is nice for the price of about US$30 per night and has a couch and TV in the room. 

​Inari Temple yesterday was only two train stops from Kyoto main station and the ticket cost 140 yen (US$1.36) each way, so much cheaper than the NYC subway that I got used to.  The shrine  was free to visit and walk around.  You can pay 200 Yen and write a wish on a stick outside of the shrine, and sign the back of the stick.  I'll hold off on sharing my wish until it comes true.  Here are a few pics...

$3.88 at today's exchange rate.  I didn't get one, but the Big Mac was created in Pittsburgh, so I had to snap a photo.

I went to this place about a half mile from my hostel last night.  I ordered 'roast beef' which was essentially very rare beef, with a lot of fat, served over a few pieces of lettuce and radish, and presented in this huge bowl with dry ice, so there was fog for a few minutes.  Crazy presentation.  Not very budget friendly at US$15, but not insane for Japan.  It did hit the spot though...

I rode the fastest train that I've ever been on yesterday, from Tokyo to Kyoto.  Lunch was simple and purchased at the train station before I boarded.  Salami, cheese, sandwich and a rice cake with a raw slab of salmon.  It was fantastic.

I took the bullet train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo Station to Utsunomiya and then a regular train to Nikko.  Here was breakfast on the bullet train.

This sounded like a great idea.  Hop on a train, then a bus, and go to the fifth station at Mt. Fuji.  Plenty of photo opportunities along the way, have a nice lunch, walk around, meet some people.  Yeah.

​Round trip, I took 10 separate trains, and two buses, spent a good 11 hours of my day, and I got this awesome (not) picture from Mt. Fuji.  I forgot that things tend to get foggy when you hit certain elevations...

The high points of the day would be the post-breakfast sandwich that I had, which has dual pricing for some reason (I had to pay the higher 260 price), and the wonderful, yet overpriced (at $8) chicken ramen soup that I had on foggy Mt Fuji, below.  Tourist Trap.  I did meet a nice couple from Amsterdam along the way though, so that was nice.

The Hostel recommended this sushi restaurant which is less than a 10 minute walk away.  They were very friendly there and like foreigners.  I signed one of many posters that they hang on the wall showing who visited .  They spoke very little English and obviously I speak zero Japanese, but in addition to the standard menu they gave me extra octopus and sushi to try.  I had already started eating before I remembered to take this picture.  It was really good (about US$10).