Awesome Big Boy and Spiderman photo. And the koi one's rad too. But you're not fooling anybody with that sleeping bag photo. Welcome back. Here is my list of comments and questions:
You can get those UFO noodle bowls in America. They're amazing. I don't know about Japanese communities in Minnesota, but I've purchased UFO bowls at a few places in Los Angeles and Pasadena.
How was the Philosopher's Road? Was it full of tourists and/or locals? I was worried there'd be a hundred philosophers on it, getting in the way of my kickass wandering/wondering. When I got to Kyoto, I grabbed a map and tourist guide at the train station, and read some stuff about it and it seemed neat, but I didn't want to bump into other tourists so I flipped to the last couple pages and found the smallest bar I could find and got lost.
In my 22 nights in Japan, I saw about 5 PSPs and about 25 DSs, including toddlers, girls, and salarymen. I think you just got lucky with those PSPs.
Why'd you have to touch everything?












