Leigh went to Kyoto today, and there’s lots of intriguing pictures in the Dropbox, but I wasn’t there, so I can’t talk about it.

The one thing we didn’t plan on this trip to Nara was any time for me to see, well, Nara.  The only sightseeing I was able to do was if I got up early and walked around before the conference started.  So that’s what I did.

I had walked up to the Nandaimon gate on a prior morning, but today I wanted to check out the actual temple it is the gate FOR.  Specifically, that would be Tōdai-ji, or “The Eastern Great Temple.” There has been some form of this temple on this site since 752, although it has been renovated and reconstructed several times.

It is.. big.

And it needs to be, because it was built to house the largest statue of Vairocana Buddha in the world.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I like big Buddhas and I cannot lie.

There’s some other cool buildings in the area, and if you stagger up a hill in the already quite oppressive heat (at 8 am), there’s a lovely view over the city..

And then it was back inside for the conference.  Today I got to give my talk!

© WTTC20 Local Organizing Committee (LOC)

Riveting stuff, let me tell you.

That night we went to a local banquet hall for the conference dinner, so I didn’t see Leigh at all until quite late. The conference organizers had once again pulled out all the stops, and the dinner was preceded by a demonstration of traditional Japanese music…

…and dance.

And then it was time to eat.  SPEAKING of pulling out all the stops.  This was another kaiseki traditional meal with quite a few seasonal courses, and the selections were quite luxurious.

To top that off – I was seated at a table with two people who were basically omnivorous, three people who didn’t eat beef and didn’t like fish, and one empty place… which the staff still served food to, every course.

Which meant that the three folks on OUR side of the table basically got double helpings of everything as we consumed the unwanted courses from the other side of the table.

I mean – we couldn’t let grilled Wagyu go to waste, now, could we?

It did get to the point where I looked over at the plate next to mine and thought “OK, that’s $50 worth of abalone right there, but I’m just. too. full.”

At least we didn’t have to eat the ENTIRE claypot full of eel. Delicious, delicious eel…

The one awkward thing that happened was when the 16 year old theatre kid seated across the table from us with her parents decided that the presence of a microphone meant that it would be perfectly fine for her to commandeer it and sing a song for the entire room.

That was… a thing that happened.

You know who WASN’T completely stuffed? This friend I passed on the way home.