Although I’ve been home for 2.5 weeks now I don’t think it’s too late to fill in the rest of my trip report, or at least I hope it’s not.

At any rate, after leaving Montreal we spent just one day in San Francisco, almost solely so I could see Drawing Restraint at SFMOMA http://www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/exhib_detail.asp?id=230 Was it worth travelling to a city just for an art exhibition? Of course! While I prefer the Cremaster Cycle to Drawing Restraint it was great to see the film adjacent to the exhibition.

The next day, to Tokyo, which we last visited in late 2004. I’m the kind of tourist that always feels bad when I can’t make myself understood or ask for something in a country where I don’t speak the language. I learnt a small amount of Japanese for our first trip there, and it does help especially with finding places to eat and makes me feel a bit more polite than just pointing and smiling at things.

Many restaurants in Japan are identified by a sign over the door indicating the type of food they serve, うどん for udon restaurants, ラーメン for ramen etc. We eat a lot of Japanese food at home so generally I don’t mind at all what ends up on my plate.

Most of our time in Tokyo was taken up by museums (mostly Ueno park), parks, riding the subway endlessly (it takes a long time to get across town), buying electronics and bicycle accessories from 100 Yen stores, and eating, of course.

It is a country I’d love to return to again.