Kyoto [part 1]

[Note: Similar to the 5-part Seoul trip, this was a big weekend. There's a lot of story to tell you about. I hope you don't mind.]

While it wasn’t a ryokan, we did manage to locate a hotel for Saturday night. You know how when you go to a hotel in America, and they charge you extra on top of the advertised rate when you have two people? That always drove me crazy. Over half of their rooms have to be taken by couples of some sort. Why wouldn’t you make your advertised price for TWO people and then offer a friendly “single traveler” discount? It’s all about framing in a positive way, you know?

I digress. In Japan, the room rate is often *doubled* for two people. I will never complain about that extra $10 in America again.

At 6am we loaded ourselves up on one of the fastest trains in the world, which has incredible amounts of legroom, sells whiskey and sandwiches, and travels 300 miles in 2 hours. With a book and an inclination to nap, it was not a terrible way to spend the morning.

I may have mentioned that this was supposed to be one of the most beautiful weekends in all of the year. The fleeting “sakura season” is approaching.

That is, unless you get an unexpected cold-weather front and none of the buds pop yet. The crazy thing about cherry trees is that they don’t unfold their leaves until after their blossoms, so before sakura season all you have is a bunch of barren sticks. This is what that scene REALLY looked like:

But you know, despite all odds, we still had a good time. Some background: In years before the democratization of Japan, a new capitol was established every time there was a new emperor. In the course of history, all of those cities have been destroyed by bombs or fire. All, except one.

Kyoto is the longest standing original capitol in the country. (Most others, like Tokyo for instance, had been rebuilt at some point in time.)  The city is rich with temples, shrines, and even a castle. The juxtaposition of old and new was even more jarring than usual.  But enough talking. Let’s get to the photos!

No trip in japan is complete without a “jon is too tall for this country” photo. By this point in the morning (it was like, 8:30am) he had hit his head about three times. I will now refer to him as “lumpy”.

Our first stop of the day was… under construction. What the hell, you know? For the record, they still charged full price to get in. This was the “silver temple”, though it was actually made entirely of wood. (There were unfulfilled plans for it to be covered in silver, to rival the “gold temple” which we’ll see tomorrow.) There’s also a sand sculpture to represent Mt. Fuji. There’s a lot of fuji-love. (for those of you in west allis, your sushi house called “fujiyama” is really named after “Mt. Fuji”! (yama = mountain))

As an architectural feature, there were circles everywhere in the city.

Near the gift shop of the silver temple, we found (what I think to be) one of the highlights of the trip. At first we thought what we found was a journal. After the woman behind the counter asked us if we wanted it signed for $3 more (Again, with the language barrier, we had no idea what we were getting. We generally say “yes” and hand over our money when something like this happens.) We realized that at every temple, there are little old men hired to record your travel in calligraphy. Each temple has a unique signature and set of stamps, and your page is recorded with the date. I thought it was great because it added another dimension to visiting temples. Now it’s temples… crazy-japanese-adventure-style.

Lumpy-Jon spent a lot of the day with his nose in a book, walking down pathways. He’s a great impromptu tour guide:

So we’re walking along this path called the “philosopher’s stroll” (named because it’s supposed to be so beautiful during cherry blossom season that it’s been said to have inspired some of the great philosophers of the time.) and we’re admiring the day and standing in line to pose for pictures in front of the few blossoming trees…

…and then tragedy struck. This was the last photo ever taken with our beautiful new camera, the cannon g9. That camera, just under 1 year old, has served us well. It’s taken many great photos, it’s sturdy, it’s portable. it’s a great camera. It wasn’t cheap.

And now its a paperweight. I know what you’re thinking. And you’re wrong. I did not drop the camera. This whole situation would be a lot easier to cope with had I taken some part in the malfunction of the camera.

So that’s a good spot to end part 1. Continue on for a visually barren look at part 2.

Kyoto [Part 2]

We pick up our story, confused, weary, and kind of sad towards the general injustices of the world. Why me? Why now?

But we persevered. And the story has a happier ending, so don’t you worry your pretty little heads.

After the silver temple, we were off to the main highlight of the day, which was the Kiyomizu temple. It’s crazy… on the way we found a handful MORE temples. They were honestly *everywhere*. As a Kyotan practicing Shinto or Buddhism, your really need not fear for your soul. Salvation is near. Etc.

Anyhow, on the way we picked up a disposable camera. I dont think I’ve held one of those in five years. It was weird. We’ll get the pictures when we’re back in Seattle, I’m sure, but it’s good to know that there’s a record of our travels somewhere. You may wonder why I always take so many pictures. Well, see… I have a terrible memory. Terrible. If I don’t take a million photos and blog about everything we do, I forget before the week is over.

I’m like a goldfish.

If it’s any surprise then, I can’t recall clearly how the rest of the afternoon went. I know we greatly enjoyed Kiyumizu. I fell in love with moss, proclaiming it a far superior choice for ground coverage over grass, and we got a few more temple signatures in our new stamp-book. Jon thinks they’ve got a racket going on. I… don’t care. I just hope the little old men writing in my books get a cut of the $3 I fork over.

After some quick Google’ing back at the train station, we stopped entertaining the idea that “maybe the battery wasn’t really charged?” and other battery-related user-error theories. It sounds like this is a fairly common problem with cannons. Which… sucks. Let me elaborate for just a second.

Canon is, we believe, the best company for a digital camera. Nikon makes great film-cameras, but Canon seems to do a great job digitally. Even after this experience, I would still recommend getting one. We were considering buying the same camera again, knowing full well that if it’s a hardware malfunction, it could happen to us a second time. They’re good cameras. So why, then, does Canon’s tech support suck so hardcore that they won’t eliminate this known error? Okay, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. We haven’t even sent in the camera to be repaired yet. We only have google-fueled theories about what’s wrong.

We bought a new camera. It’s smaller. It’s a Canon point-and-shoot variety, but it still takes fine photos and it definitely gets the job done. I hate it a little bit, just because of what it stands for, but looking at the photos afterwards there isn’t a HUGE difference between the two.

I will leave you with the first photo taken with our new Canon PowerShot AS100. (this is the Kyoto Tower)

Kyoto [Part 3]

It’s now Saturday night in Kyoto. We’re feeling rejuvenated by our new PowerShot camera, and we set out on the town. Tonight’s mission? Find Geisha’s and Dinner.

What’s that? Oh. Geishas. Right. In some parts of Japan, especially Kyoto, being a Geisha is still an active profession. Their apprentices, the maiko, can sometimes be seen getting out of their taxis and entering the restaurant they’ll be entertaining in for the evening. That’s right, we were stalking them. Paparazzi style.

Entrance to these restaurants is by invitation-only, so we were very lucky when we saw someone step out for a breath of fresh air.

Okay. Geisha, check. Now why is it that the cherry blossoms (which were non-existent during the day) are suddenly *incredible* by night? Wandering down the streets had that magic-feeling of the first snowfall of the year. The one where the weather is still tolerable, but you know the world is about to start something big. The people are jubilant. The vibe is good.

I know I’ve been talking about these cherry blossoms like they’re the only thing that matters. It may sound a bit carried away and obsessive. I can’t really explain the fanfair these few days get except to show you how crazy it is. There were tripods literally *lined up* on this street.

I just realized that this new PowerShot takes pretty terrible night photos, eh? Hrm. At least it’s something.

After this we stumbled into dinner. I feel like jon and I spend more time talking about where to eat and what to eat than anything else in our lives. I can’t tell if that’s a good sign or a tragic flaw of our marriage.

Feeling brave, we walked into a place with an all-japanese, no-picture menu outside. We were hoping for a relatively nice dinner, something local, something…. well. You don’t really get to choose what you eat when you can’t read the language. We were hoping for dinner.

We walk into this restaurant and the chef comes out and kind of tells us to go away. At this point, we started in on the “japanese menu okay!” which is a standard saying here “japanese okay!” because we figured… we could point, right? So he walks us outside.

Luckily, he was walking us outside so we could point at the menu outside the door. We must have done a good enough job of conveying “yes! food! anything!” that he let us in and started putting dishes of food in front of us.

The chef turned out to be the nicest guy. I came out with a dictionary and pointed to the word “dislike” and held his hands up as if to say “is there anything you don’t eat?”. Great start! After we said “no”, he seemed a lot more at ease. I imagine he had to have been wondering what on earth he was going to cook for these white-folk that won’t go away.

What came next was the most attentive meal I’ve ever had. The entire restaurant was two chefs, a counter with 8 seats, us and another couple (who was wrapping up dinner as we came in). The courses were timed perfectly, so that the next would come shortly after we finished the first. From what we gathered the rest of the weekend, I believe we had a very authentic Kyotan meal.

There were five courses: 3 bite-sized appetizers, sashimi, tempura, a thick soup, and clear ginger-soup which I believe was called “hashiarai”. Actually, I think I’m butchering this. Were there six courses? (Lumpy-Jon, help me out!)

Kyoto [Part 4]

Sunday morning was cool. After charging up on a cup of coffee and a muffin, this was our first sights for the day:

On the way to our first stop of the day we ran into a few temples. The first one had a giant umbrella-shaped sakura tree. It was a really cool way to start the day. Put me in a happy-place. hehe. So we got our temple-book signed by the local old man and moved on.

okay. this camera isn’t bad, but it’s no g9. You know? We’re witnessing the decline of the Eggers’ photos. It turns out, all my skillz were hardware-related. It makes me sad, a little.

We headed out early to make a first stop at the famous Nishiki Market in downtown Kyoto. The guide book says they open early, as this is the place where the restaurants go to purchase their food. Okay, cool. That sounds right up our alley, eh? We got a relatively early start, but still had a leisurely morning getting ready. It must have been around 9am by the time we got there. I want to remind you that they said they opened early.

In Seattle, the market opens at six for chrissake. By 9am we certainly didn’t expect to find a deserted hallway!

But desert or not, we’re in Kyoto! There must be adventure to be had, sights to see. So we gawked at the merchants getting ready for the day. They sell such interesting, odd-looking things here. I really wish we could have come back later in the day to figure out what they were.

From the market, we were off to the train station to find a castle. This is what I mean when I say that temples and shrines are everywhere. During the few blocks that we walked through the halls of this market to the main street, we stopped into 3 or 4 temples. Our signature book is almost full!

This was one of my favourites. There was a buddhist woman chanting in the background. Some of the shrines were really humble, but others were very elaborate. In the time that we were there, we saw several salarymen (what the japanese call “businessmen” stop in, say a brief prayer, and go on with their day.

Now we get on the train to find the castle. This seems like a good place to stop for now. Hopefully my story’s not too long and you keep reading!

Kyoto [Part 5]

We arrive at the Nijō Castle – one of the few castles built for living in and not strictly as a military stronghold. Built in the 1600s, this castle is a remnant of a time long gone. We were lucky – for $5, you can go in and actually walk around the castle and see it first hand.

Even though it was reaaaaallly sunny, it was still pretty cold. I kept wishing I brought a scarf along.

Jon thought the castle was one of the highlights of the weekend. Maybe when he comes home he’ll tell me why and I can relay that to you. He likes castles, you know? (He also seems very opposed to posting in the blog himself. Leave a comment, for chrissake lumpy-jon! Tell us about your castle-love!!)

All the japanese girls stand right next to the low-hanging blossom and flash a peace-sign. So you know. Peer pressure got to me.

Are you guys getting as sick of my winter-coat as I am? Sheesh. Let’s have some pictures where michelle’s NOT cloaked-in-darkness. Come on, spring. Do your job!

How many pictures of cherry blossoms do you need? Well that depends. I think if it were up to jon, every photo would be cherry blossoms – with a side of something else. He took a LOT of pictures of them.

What would be more appropriate to follow a visit to castle with than a trip to a temple! This was the Golden Temple that I mentioned yesterday. Unlike the Silver Temple, i think you can figure out how it got its name.

Pretty, pretty.

Jon and I were noticing how all of our pictures-of-us look the same. We could have taken a picture of us in front of a white background and then just popped in pictures of places we went, and you probably wouldn’t know the difference. We’ll try harder next time. But for now….

Sometimes when I’m frustrated and can’t communicate, I slip into spanish. It’s weird. It’s not like I can actually speak spanish anymore, but I unconsciously pepper my phrases with the words, like they will help me speak to the japanese. “Porque no me entiendas?“, I say. “Why don’t you understand me!?” I’m sure when we get to puerto rico I’ll start mumbling in Japanese.  I’m hopeless.

Next we walked over to the zen gardens. Buddhists Monks + Zen Gardens + Local-Specialty Restaurant = happy michelle. They had moss here. I love moss.

The zen garden were a bit disappointing. You’re supposed to be inspired to think deep thoughts while staring into the gardens. I must have become a very shallow person since I last checked in. “Nice rocks”, lumpy-jon said. At least I’m not alone in my lack of philosophic revelations.

Okay one more thing and then we’ll take a break for a bit. This next part was cool.

Attached to the complex, there was a restaurant. Buddhists are traditionally vegetarian. The Japanese eat a lot of 1-pot stews. So what would Japanese Buddhists eat, then? Say it with me. Tofu stew! (they call it shōjin-ryōri) It’s served with cabbage and a lot of condiments. Stop making a face at tofu. I can see you. It was good.

And we ate on the floor at little tables like this.

Many japanese meals end with Tsukemono, or the Japanese pickle. They pickle everything. Not dill-style like American pickles. Just… preserved by pickling. You know.

Okay. I have just a little bit more for you. See you in Part 6!