I'm getting together a small collection of books for reading for the PhD at the moment. Pickings on Amazon are slim, however. The three best ones I've found aren't even that great either: the first, while comprehensive, is written by an uber-Catholic who seems to believe in their miraculous nature too firmly; the second is a travelogue on pilgrimage sites with relics, accompanied by bitching about tourists; the third is written by a journalist who quotes Angels and Demons, which is epic fail. Still haven't checked journal articles yet....I'm feeling slightly lazy and am feeling a little more excited about Japan than I am about the PhD at the moment.

After a few weeks or angst-ridden searching, I found my Tokyo accomodation today: The Toshi Center Hotel, which has pretty much the vitals of what I was after for my Tokyo stay: somewhere to sleep and breakfast. Importantly, I also paid in advance for the stay. I hope to do this when booking the Kyoto accomodation too- after ending up practically broke in Rome, I don't want to risk ending up penniless, particularly since I'm on my own this time! Still no luck on Kyoto- unfortunately the hotel that dragonflysakura recommended is booked out. :/ The perils of booking during Hanami season!

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: MGMT- Time to Pretend