Every time I look over at my desktop calendar at work, I have to do a little double-take: what do you mean it's already July? And yet the mind-melting midday temperatures and humidity consistently remind me that, yes, it is in fact the height of summer in Japan. That means it's time to take daily frigid showers and do whatever it takes to not miss garbage disposal day or risk your apartment smelling like a decomposing trash heap. I know, that's the image everyone definitely wanted when they opened to this post. So I'll move on (but, in case anyone is interested, you can put food scraps and stuff you don't want to smell into your freezer until you're ready to throw it out!) Moving on for real this time. A few weekends ago, I got a shot at redeeming the fun yet somewhat haphazard Golden Week Nikko adventure . Having learned from the previous trip, we bought train tickets in advance and confirmed exactly where and when transfers would occur and this ti...