8am local Ever since I came to Japan, I have been getting up very early... even after a late evening. Normally it is around 6am. Unfortunately, the "Land of the Rising Sun" doesn't often get up early enough to ever see it. In Sendai the earliest thing that opened was a Starbucks at 7am. The city was largely dead before 8:00 or 8:30 (I haven't seen a jogger yet) But by 9 the place is hopping. So again this morning I'm killing timee until the tourist office opens, and Kyoto station is a great place to do it. It's 10 stories tall and very open... escalators take you to the top for great views of the city. There is a ton of unused space to just hang out (or make out in the evenings from what I gathered last night.) My plan for the day is to hopefully rent a bicycle... Much of what there is to see in Kyoto is within bicycle range. The mountains surround the city which is otherwise largely flat. Bicycles are everywhere here. Apparently, theft isn't much of a problem as long as you do the minimum required to keep someone who missed a taxi from "borrowing" it. The cicadias are in full song here and they are industrial strength loud. It's nearly deafening to walk under a tree. This should make my temple visits interesting, as the seem to have the largest stands of trees in the city. Oh, Mister Donut is huge in Japan... I just had a glazed donut for breakfast. Next to the Mister Donut was the Caf