I had a lot of fun on my Kamakura trip thanks to the wonderful
volunteer guides. One of them even spoke Filipino. I didn’t want to
miss an opportunity to practice my Japanese, though, and I was happy
to find myself conversing with them easily. Yay!

The temples we visited were very beautiful, and thanks to the
backstory they shared and the extra information I downloaded to my
iPAQ the night before, I was able to really appreciate the places we
visited. =) The guides were amazed by the amount of information on my
PDA. They laughed when I mentioned things they’d forgotten, and seemed
flattered that I’d prepared so much. It was a good idea! =)

Pictures up at http://www.kathychua.kom.ph/sacha . Lots of pictures
this time! I filled my whole memory card. I didn’t upload all the
pictures taken, but the sheer quantity I had to choose from probably
increased the chances of my having at least one good shot, right?

I bought a bright red parasol. Although it’s made of paper, it keeps
out light drizzles pretty well. Yes, I know, I already have an
umbrella, but a _bright_ _red_ Japanese umbrella will probably look
nice in pictures. My traffic-yellow jacket looks a bit out of place
with it, though. If I find a nice black trenchcoat in the second-hand
stores a friend told me about… <impish grin>