After a busy day of running about in Nara yesterday, I decided to take it a bit easy today.
I went to Downtown Kyoto to go shopping, and somehow got lost on my way there even though I've been there before. Getting lost *always* results in interesting discoveries though, and I found about the greatness of Oike-dori. These is a fairly large main street running east-west, and it's great for cycling. The footpath is unusually wide, and is paved with some sort of marble-like stone.
There are also lots of bike parks every block or so, so it's a good place to park if you can't find a legal parking area nearer to where you're going.
The openness of the footpath though just makes it great to fly along.
Eventually I found my way back to the northern end of Teramachi-dori, which is a large shopping arcade very popular with local youth and tourists alike. I parked my bike somewhere that *looked* legal; there were no "No Parking" signs, and a few other bikes, so I thought it would be okay. Then I went into Teramachi-dori.
Unfortunately, most of the clothing shops here are fairly expensive. I did however find a few that were reasonably priced, but I didn't buy anything yet. I'll save my shopping for the end of the trip when I know how much money I have left over.
I also found a large second-hand clothing store, which is very rare in Japan because people here see buying second-hand stuff as bad luck. There was actually a lot of nice stuff in there, and for good prices (not Australian op-shop prices though!)
After a bit of window shopping I went back to check on my bike, because I wasn't sure of the legality of the parking area; and it turns out I wasn't allowed to park there.
I didn't get a fine, and I didn't get the bike taken away though, which was lucky!
All there was was a note saying that you can't park here, with a map showing all the bicycle parks in the area. Very helpful! I didn't want to pay for parking, but there were no other options.
Now was another test: learn how to use a Japanese automatic bike parking machine.
I figured it out by watching someone else; and it couldn't be easier.
There are these little metal tracks just wide enough for a bike wheel, which you ride your front wheel into. At the end, the track locks the wheel in place.
Each track is numbered, and when you're finished you just type the number into the pay machine, it tells you how much you owe, you pay it, and your bike unlocks. Too easy.
I went to my favourite place (a-cho, the arcade), hoping that it would be quiet before the afternoon and I could get some Guilty Gear practice in. My suspicions were correct; there were very few people there, and no one playing GG.
I haven't played in about a year, so I had to remember how to play, and all my combos that I used to use. First game, I lost to the first CPU opponent. Depressing.
The next couple of games I got fairly far through the opponent roster, and everything started coming back to me.
I got my basic ground strings back, and my Jam Loops (the character I play is called Jam, and she has a very strong "loop" in the corner; which basically means a series of attacks that can be repeated in one combo for lots of hurt), and started to practice some more tricky stuff that I used to be able to do, with varying levels of success.
After I'd had enough, I grabbed some lunch from (lol) KFC, where I saw a group of three REALLY FAT Aussie weeaboo girls and had to giggle; then I went back to being a tourist and went to Nijo Castle (Nijo-jo).
The castle itself is very different to most other Japanese castles (like Osaka-jo or Himeji-jo) in that its only one floor, and has lots of different buildings within a large piece of land. It's a bit more like a temple in that sense.
Inside the main building of the castle, I was VERY excited about walking on a real nightingale floor, after learning about them from the historical/fantasy novel "Across the Nightingale Floor" by Lian Hearn.
A nightingale floor is basically a wooden floor that is designed to creak when walked on, to make it hard/impossible for would-be assassins to sneak in without making a noise. I was surprised at how much the "squeaking" sounded like bird calls, rather than a regular creaky floor. Hence the name "nightingale floor". Of course, I tried to sneak across it, but was not successful.
The rest of the castle was fun; there was a high wall with steps to climb up to the top, obviously used at one point in time as a lookout point. Of course, because of this, the view over the city (and over the castle itself) was great.
After the castle I came back to the hostel for an early dinner, then went out to a shopping building called "Avanti", which as seems to be the Japanese norm is about 8 stories high, with a selection of different shops on each floor.
I was mainly going to see the bookshop on the 6th floor, but got distracted on the 5th by a discounted shoe store.
OH MY GOD. So many awesome sneakers; some regular Nike/Converse/Adidas etc, and some really cool stuff from brands I haven't heard of (local Japanese brands?). And so CHEAP! Nothing was over ￥5000, and most were in the region of ￥2000-3000. Some of the really cool local brands stuff were 2 pairs for ￥5000; and there were some VERY NICE moccasins for ￥5000.
But you know what? In Japan, I have clown feet. Size 30 feet in Japan are almost unheard of, so its almost impossible to find shoes that fit me. ARGH.
I went up to the bookshop, and looking mostly at the kids books and manga (because those are all I can read in Japanese!) I saw some cool stuff.
A Jap version of The Giving Tree! (without the scary picture of the author on the back). I might have to buy it. Couldn't find Where the Wild Things Are though.
I ended up buying the first volume of the Jap version of one of my favourite manga series, Eyeshield 21. It's about a high school American football team; and is very fun. Hopefully, reading it with the aid of a dictionary will help me learn more Japanese, and importantly, learn to read kanji.
Tonight, I came home and *didn't* get drunk! Wow!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Day 6 (Monday 11th Oct, 2010)
Today for a bit of a change of pace I went outside of Kyoto a bit, to a town called Nara.
It's about 40 mins south of Kyoto by train, and was Japan's first permanent capital in the 700s. (Prior to this, the capital had to move with the passing of every emperor, under Shinto law.)
It's famous for some temples and shrines, in particular the home of the "daibutsu" (giant buddha); and lots and lots of wild deer.
I left really early, and made the mistake of catching the "local" train, because I thought the expresses (there are about 4 levels of express train here) cost more. As it turns out, only the "Rapid Express" costs more, so I could have gotten on the regular express and saved myself a lot of time. Oh well, lesson learned.
I had a quick take-out "bento" meal from the station, then got a map from the tourist centre and headed out on my adventure.
Before long I started to see handcarts selling deer biscuits (shika-senbei) every hundred metres or so along the road, and I knew I was near what would be the highlight of this trip: lots and lots of cute little bambis everywhere to feed and pet!
I had a hearty laugh at the warning sign reminding tourists that the deer are in fact wild animals, and may attack/kick/butt/knock down visitors, complete with cartoon diagrams as is the Japanese standard.
I stopped outside the Nara Museum of Buddhist Art (didn't go in because of the entry fee) and spent about an hour just feeding and petting deer. Of course there were lots of Japanese families there with young children; they're really cute with the deer.
I finally decided I should move on because I have a lot more to see on this trip, and so I headed off to a temple called Todai-ji, home of the Great Buddha of Nara. Outside there were a lot more deer, running about on the streets and such; and I guess its mating season because I saw some having sex. Poor does though; the male deer really have no stamina at all. Like two thrusts and they're done.
I went inside the temple (this is one entry fee I'm willing to pay!), and was amazed by the sheer size of the main hall. It's the largest wooden building in the world.
I went inside, and I can't really describe how incredible it is to see this goliath. I've seen it many times before in photos, and seen replicas in video games; but to actually see the statue itself, live (for want of a better word) is an incredible experience. Anyone who comes to Japan has to come to Nara.
As well as the Buddha, there are a couple of other warrior-like statues inside; guardians I guess, and a 1:50 scale model of how the temple used to look before it was burned down. The current building, big as it is, is only 2/3s of the size of the original!
Most of the important sights of Nara are all located within Nara Koen, a very large park, so its very easy to follow the path and see everything. The path goes through a gorgeous forest, of course still with deer everywhere, and through an extensive shrine, called Kasuga Taisha. In the shrine I got to see people practicing horseback archery, from wooden horses; that was fairly amazing. They were shooting at a target about 15/20 metres away (depending on which horse); but in the actual contest they shoot at targets 300 metres away, from the backs of live horses moving at full gallop, with (ideally) 100% accuracy. Three arrows for three targets. I wish I was here to see that.
Towards the end of the route I went passed the Kofuki-ji temple, which is most famous for its five-story pagoda; the second highest in Japan, after To-ji in Kyoto, which is a few centimetres taller (I haven't been there yet, but I will.)
On the way back I went through the shopping area by Nara station; and I found a great little store called Geo Jeans. It has a bit of an op-shop feel to it, though everything there is new. I guess it's like an outlet store. I got a really nice pair of Lee jeans for ￥4095 (AUD$50), which are normally ￥15,500 (AUD$190). Good deal!
I also stopped in for a quick browse of a ￥100 store, and finally, I got interviewed!
I've heard a lot about this, and was looking forward to experiencing it.
Basically, in Japan, students start learning English from Junior High School. When these students see foreigners, they like to have the opportunity to practice their English.
He started by asking me if am from America (in Japan, every white person is American). Somehow we got onto movies, and he started on about how he really likes Harry Potter (good kid). "It goes without saying, Mr Daniel Radcliffe is very cool!". Daniel Radcliffe was always "Mr. Daniel Radcliffe"; Malfoy was "Mr. Malfoy" etc. "Mr. Hagrid's beard is much longer than yours." "Mr. Malfoy is very impudent."
I think "impudent" was his favourite English word.
I got on the train back to Kyoto (this time the express, aha!) and back at the hostel I meant some new visitors. Would you believe it, there was another New Zealand expat living in Prahran! His name is Michael, and he was here with his girlfriend and friend. We drank some gin, and sake, and then headed out to a nearby izakaya for dinner. I don't know the name of it, but the food was nice and the staff (and some customers) are incredibly loud and enthusiastic; it was great. We got quite drunk, and in some point in the proceedings he offered to try get me a job at his work (SunCorp, a call centre for insurance). Basically if I get hired on his recommendation and stay for 3 months, he gets $500 bonus; and the job itself pays at least $5,000 more a year than what I'm on. So I may have a new job lined up when I get back to Australia!
We got some more beer from a 7-Eleven on the way home, and drank them.
Good end to a good day.
It's about 40 mins south of Kyoto by train, and was Japan's first permanent capital in the 700s. (Prior to this, the capital had to move with the passing of every emperor, under Shinto law.)
It's famous for some temples and shrines, in particular the home of the "daibutsu" (giant buddha); and lots and lots of wild deer.
I left really early, and made the mistake of catching the "local" train, because I thought the expresses (there are about 4 levels of express train here) cost more. As it turns out, only the "Rapid Express" costs more, so I could have gotten on the regular express and saved myself a lot of time. Oh well, lesson learned.
I had a quick take-out "bento" meal from the station, then got a map from the tourist centre and headed out on my adventure.
Before long I started to see handcarts selling deer biscuits (shika-senbei) every hundred metres or so along the road, and I knew I was near what would be the highlight of this trip: lots and lots of cute little bambis everywhere to feed and pet!
I had a hearty laugh at the warning sign reminding tourists that the deer are in fact wild animals, and may attack/kick/butt/knock down visitors, complete with cartoon diagrams as is the Japanese standard.
I stopped outside the Nara Museum of Buddhist Art (didn't go in because of the entry fee) and spent about an hour just feeding and petting deer. Of course there were lots of Japanese families there with young children; they're really cute with the deer.
I finally decided I should move on because I have a lot more to see on this trip, and so I headed off to a temple called Todai-ji, home of the Great Buddha of Nara. Outside there were a lot more deer, running about on the streets and such; and I guess its mating season because I saw some having sex. Poor does though; the male deer really have no stamina at all. Like two thrusts and they're done.
I went inside the temple (this is one entry fee I'm willing to pay!), and was amazed by the sheer size of the main hall. It's the largest wooden building in the world.
I went inside, and I can't really describe how incredible it is to see this goliath. I've seen it many times before in photos, and seen replicas in video games; but to actually see the statue itself, live (for want of a better word) is an incredible experience. Anyone who comes to Japan has to come to Nara.
As well as the Buddha, there are a couple of other warrior-like statues inside; guardians I guess, and a 1:50 scale model of how the temple used to look before it was burned down. The current building, big as it is, is only 2/3s of the size of the original!
Most of the important sights of Nara are all located within Nara Koen, a very large park, so its very easy to follow the path and see everything. The path goes through a gorgeous forest, of course still with deer everywhere, and through an extensive shrine, called Kasuga Taisha. In the shrine I got to see people practicing horseback archery, from wooden horses; that was fairly amazing. They were shooting at a target about 15/20 metres away (depending on which horse); but in the actual contest they shoot at targets 300 metres away, from the backs of live horses moving at full gallop, with (ideally) 100% accuracy. Three arrows for three targets. I wish I was here to see that.
Towards the end of the route I went passed the Kofuki-ji temple, which is most famous for its five-story pagoda; the second highest in Japan, after To-ji in Kyoto, which is a few centimetres taller (I haven't been there yet, but I will.)
On the way back I went through the shopping area by Nara station; and I found a great little store called Geo Jeans. It has a bit of an op-shop feel to it, though everything there is new. I guess it's like an outlet store. I got a really nice pair of Lee jeans for ￥4095 (AUD$50), which are normally ￥15,500 (AUD$190). Good deal!
I also stopped in for a quick browse of a ￥100 store, and finally, I got interviewed!
I've heard a lot about this, and was looking forward to experiencing it.
Basically, in Japan, students start learning English from Junior High School. When these students see foreigners, they like to have the opportunity to practice their English.
He started by asking me if am from America (in Japan, every white person is American). Somehow we got onto movies, and he started on about how he really likes Harry Potter (good kid). "It goes without saying, Mr Daniel Radcliffe is very cool!". Daniel Radcliffe was always "Mr. Daniel Radcliffe"; Malfoy was "Mr. Malfoy" etc. "Mr. Hagrid's beard is much longer than yours." "Mr. Malfoy is very impudent."
I think "impudent" was his favourite English word.
I got on the train back to Kyoto (this time the express, aha!) and back at the hostel I meant some new visitors. Would you believe it, there was another New Zealand expat living in Prahran! His name is Michael, and he was here with his girlfriend and friend. We drank some gin, and sake, and then headed out to a nearby izakaya for dinner. I don't know the name of it, but the food was nice and the staff (and some customers) are incredibly loud and enthusiastic; it was great. We got quite drunk, and in some point in the proceedings he offered to try get me a job at his work (SunCorp, a call centre for insurance). Basically if I get hired on his recommendation and stay for 3 months, he gets $500 bonus; and the job itself pays at least $5,000 more a year than what I'm on. So I may have a new job lined up when I get back to Australia!
We got some more beer from a 7-Eleven on the way home, and drank them.
Good end to a good day.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Day 5 (Sunday 10th Oct, 2010)
Today is a sad day, because all of my hostel friends are leaving. Still, travellers, generally, are cool people, so perhaps I will meet some other awesome folk!
I went to the Tourist Information Centre in Kyoto Station to get some maps and pamphlets and the like, and by some stroke of fortune I ran into Magdalena again! We had another sad goodbye hug, and I promised that if I was ever in London (which I surely will be in the near future) I will visit her.
Today's plan was to visit Kiyomizu-dera, which is a large temple at the base of the mountains to the East of Kyoto; and is one of the most popular and famous sights in the city.
The roads up to the temple are an incredible sight in their own right; very reminiscent of "old" Kyoto as seen in period films. The streets are very narrow, and lined with souvenir shops, teahouses, cafes, ice cream parlours and the like. Driving a car up them would be near impossible for the narrow width and sheer volume of pedestrian traffic.
I parked my bike at a parking lot about halfway up; ￥100 for all day. The guy running the parking lot was very chatty and friendly, as a lot of people in Japan seem to be.
I stopped at an ice cream place a bit further up because it was ridiculously hot (あついですね！） and I was curious to try Japan's famous "Green Tea Icecream". Words can't describe the strangeness of eating what has the texture of icecream, but tastes like tea. It was damn nice, though.
The temple itself was amazing! ￥500 to get in (which seems to be standard fare at most tourist spots), which was well worth it. Inside there are the usual temple-type sights; buddha statues, good-luck boxes, lucky charms tied to things etc.; but there is also a terrace with a selection of different good luck rituals to try: tying paper to things, dissolving paper with your wish on it in water, and some others. They're each ￥200 a pop, though, which isn't really that much, but I didn't try any of them.
The main hall of the temple has a deck which sticks out from the side of the mountain, and provides an incredible view over Kyoto city.
The path then snakes around down the side of the mountain, and there are some good views of the temple itself. I asked someone if he would mind taking a photo of me (in Japanese), and he was very excited about hearing a "gaijin" (foreigner) speaking Japanese. Took some photos, and a very enthusiastic handshake afterwards. These people are lovely.
At the bottom of the hill there was a cafe, so I stopped for lunch because my stomach was grumbling a bit (it's doing this a lot this trip; it's hard to get a sufficient amount of food here. I'm going to lose so much weight ><).
I had some udon noodles with tofu; and this was my first time in a restaurant/cafe here that I've managed to conduct the entire process of "go in, ask for a table, order food, pay for food, thank the staff and leave" entirely in Japanese and with no hiccups. Yay!
After leaving the temple, I got lost for a couple of hours among a maze of little laneways lined with shops and cafes. This area in particular really has a feel of old Japan; and even if you don't visit Kiyomizu-dera itself, the roads here are beautiful in their own right.
It seems like the best place to get souvenirs; they're better than the usual crap you see at other places, so I'll be back here again to buy things. I managed to find a nice postcard as well to send to work, which I'd been looking for for a few days.
I also noticed that there are so many Shinsengumi and Sakamoto Ryoma themed souvenirs! They're both really popular here; I'll have a lot of stuff to choose from.
After that historical adventure, it was time to come back to the modern world; so I sort of meandered my way back to downtown Kyoto. I found somewhere to park my bike (bike parks are really hard to find in downtown area! Especially free ones) and went to my favourite place, a-Cho (the super dope arcade).
It was very crowded becase it was 5pm (all the after-school/after-uni crowd were here) and there was a KoF ranbat going on. Because of the ranbat, everything had been rearranged: they really go to a lot of effort for these! I look forward to the Guilty Gear one on Friday (I may even enter!).
I played a few rounds on Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, and got completely annihilated. Not quite triple-perfects, but just about. I was playing Makoto against the other guy's Akuma, and he just ran a train on me. I landed one karakusa in 9 rounds; and then I missed the link afterwards. Ugh.
I wanted to play Guilty Gear as well, but it's been about a year at least since I've even touched that game, and I've forgotten all my combos. All I remember is "2S = Victoly!" I'll go back tomorrow hopefully during the morning when it's quiet, so I can practice-mode against the CPU.
After a brief stop back at the hostel to cool off, I decided to go to the nearby "Second House" Italian restaurant for dinner. It's just at the end of the road that the hostel is on, so it's very close and convenient.
As I was walking there, walking past a bike rental shop, I heard a loud "Herro!"
The guy who runs this bike shop, who's name is Naoki, gets really excited about meeting foreigners. I talked to him for ages, and tried talking some Japanese as well, which made him even more excited. He asked if he could join me for dinner; and then called his wife to see if it was okay. Then he made me ask her, in Japanese, on the phone. I managed to do it though!
We went to eat, and Naoki-san introduced me to all the staff there; he goes there very often because its across the road from his shop, so he's friends with all the staff. He got really excited about telling them that I speak Japanese.
The food was really good, and the price was fair.
As usual, I finished off the night with some sake.
I went to the Tourist Information Centre in Kyoto Station to get some maps and pamphlets and the like, and by some stroke of fortune I ran into Magdalena again! We had another sad goodbye hug, and I promised that if I was ever in London (which I surely will be in the near future) I will visit her.
Today's plan was to visit Kiyomizu-dera, which is a large temple at the base of the mountains to the East of Kyoto; and is one of the most popular and famous sights in the city.
The roads up to the temple are an incredible sight in their own right; very reminiscent of "old" Kyoto as seen in period films. The streets are very narrow, and lined with souvenir shops, teahouses, cafes, ice cream parlours and the like. Driving a car up them would be near impossible for the narrow width and sheer volume of pedestrian traffic.
I parked my bike at a parking lot about halfway up; ￥100 for all day. The guy running the parking lot was very chatty and friendly, as a lot of people in Japan seem to be.
I stopped at an ice cream place a bit further up because it was ridiculously hot (あついですね！） and I was curious to try Japan's famous "Green Tea Icecream". Words can't describe the strangeness of eating what has the texture of icecream, but tastes like tea. It was damn nice, though.
The temple itself was amazing! ￥500 to get in (which seems to be standard fare at most tourist spots), which was well worth it. Inside there are the usual temple-type sights; buddha statues, good-luck boxes, lucky charms tied to things etc.; but there is also a terrace with a selection of different good luck rituals to try: tying paper to things, dissolving paper with your wish on it in water, and some others. They're each ￥200 a pop, though, which isn't really that much, but I didn't try any of them.
The main hall of the temple has a deck which sticks out from the side of the mountain, and provides an incredible view over Kyoto city.
The path then snakes around down the side of the mountain, and there are some good views of the temple itself. I asked someone if he would mind taking a photo of me (in Japanese), and he was very excited about hearing a "gaijin" (foreigner) speaking Japanese. Took some photos, and a very enthusiastic handshake afterwards. These people are lovely.
At the bottom of the hill there was a cafe, so I stopped for lunch because my stomach was grumbling a bit (it's doing this a lot this trip; it's hard to get a sufficient amount of food here. I'm going to lose so much weight ><).
I had some udon noodles with tofu; and this was my first time in a restaurant/cafe here that I've managed to conduct the entire process of "go in, ask for a table, order food, pay for food, thank the staff and leave" entirely in Japanese and with no hiccups. Yay!
After leaving the temple, I got lost for a couple of hours among a maze of little laneways lined with shops and cafes. This area in particular really has a feel of old Japan; and even if you don't visit Kiyomizu-dera itself, the roads here are beautiful in their own right.
It seems like the best place to get souvenirs; they're better than the usual crap you see at other places, so I'll be back here again to buy things. I managed to find a nice postcard as well to send to work, which I'd been looking for for a few days.
I also noticed that there are so many Shinsengumi and Sakamoto Ryoma themed souvenirs! They're both really popular here; I'll have a lot of stuff to choose from.
After that historical adventure, it was time to come back to the modern world; so I sort of meandered my way back to downtown Kyoto. I found somewhere to park my bike (bike parks are really hard to find in downtown area! Especially free ones) and went to my favourite place, a-Cho (the super dope arcade).
It was very crowded becase it was 5pm (all the after-school/after-uni crowd were here) and there was a KoF ranbat going on. Because of the ranbat, everything had been rearranged: they really go to a lot of effort for these! I look forward to the Guilty Gear one on Friday (I may even enter!).
I played a few rounds on Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, and got completely annihilated. Not quite triple-perfects, but just about. I was playing Makoto against the other guy's Akuma, and he just ran a train on me. I landed one karakusa in 9 rounds; and then I missed the link afterwards. Ugh.
I wanted to play Guilty Gear as well, but it's been about a year at least since I've even touched that game, and I've forgotten all my combos. All I remember is "2S = Victoly!" I'll go back tomorrow hopefully during the morning when it's quiet, so I can practice-mode against the CPU.
After a brief stop back at the hostel to cool off, I decided to go to the nearby "Second House" Italian restaurant for dinner. It's just at the end of the road that the hostel is on, so it's very close and convenient.
As I was walking there, walking past a bike rental shop, I heard a loud "Herro!"
The guy who runs this bike shop, who's name is Naoki, gets really excited about meeting foreigners. I talked to him for ages, and tried talking some Japanese as well, which made him even more excited. He asked if he could join me for dinner; and then called his wife to see if it was okay. Then he made me ask her, in Japanese, on the phone. I managed to do it though!
We went to eat, and Naoki-san introduced me to all the staff there; he goes there very often because its across the road from his shop, so he's friends with all the staff. He got really excited about telling them that I speak Japanese.
The food was really good, and the price was fair.
As usual, I finished off the night with some sake.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Day 4 (Saturday, 9th Oct, 2010)
The weather was quite bad today, so most people in the hostel had similar plans of going to some indoor sights.
I went with Magda, Andy, and Jezeppa (sp? Italian name) to see the Nishiki Market.
This is a very long food market, which serves as both a place for locals to buy fresh food (mostly meat, but a few vegetable shops scattered here and there), but it's become quite a popular tourist destination so now there are a lot of souvenir shops in there as well.
We tasted some very nice sake on the way through (just because it's morning is no excuse to not start drinking!), and then stopped at a coffee shop we found to have some (very expensive) coffee.
After this, we went our separate ways a bit, because Magda and myself wanted to see the Manga Museum, but the others didn't.
On the way there, back through Nishiki Market, we found a small place that was selling a box of six takoyaki (fairly large octopus dumplings) for ￥180, so we had some of those because we were very hungry. They were really good!
While we were eating, Magda noticed that a nearby bin had an inspirational message written on it: "Would you like to review what your life should be?"
Inspirational messages on rubbish bins. This is such a strange, foreign, and amazing land.
The Manga Museum was incredible! It's formerly a university building that's been converted into a museum, so it had that very strong smell of being in a school (I guess schools have the same smell everywhere in the world). It basically is like a library, with thousands of comics available to just pick up and read (if you can read Japanese). There was also a room chronicling the history of manga, with shelves with a selection of comics from each year from the '60s until present.
Magda was funny because she has never read any manga before; and she kept picking up ones at random which had some erotic content that is not so uncommon in Japanese manga.
Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside (but we snuck a few in anyway).
The souvenir shop at the end had some very cool things, and Shinsengumi souvenirs seem very popular. I didn't buy anything, but I'll be back before I leave to buy some.
After the museum, we went to Kyoto Gyoen park, in the rain; which made it look beautiful in a completely different way. Because of the weather there were very few other tourists, so that made it even better. We walked the perimeter of the park, took some photos, and ran into an Irish couple who were kind enough to take photos of us (and us of them).
We got back to the hostel at about 6.30, and met up with Andy and Jezeppa again; and headed out to a nearby onsen (public bath) which is highly recommended by the hostel staff. It was a very strange experience, being surrounded by a bunch of other naked men, but it was a refreshing bath. The Japanese just don't see it as strange, to be naked together in a bathhouse, to them it's just a fairly normal social experience.
It did give me a chance to feel very well-equipped though!
After the bath, we came back to the hostel to have dinner, and as usual, had some drinks. The hostel offers free kimono trying (yukata, technically) for ladies, so Magda tried it on.
Afterwards, perhaps thanks to the sake, everyone decided that Andy needed to try it on as well! The hostel staff were quite okay with this, surprisingly; and after Andy it was my turn.
Ah, Japan, land of the strange, and at times borderline gay.
I went with Magda, Andy, and Jezeppa (sp? Italian name) to see the Nishiki Market.
This is a very long food market, which serves as both a place for locals to buy fresh food (mostly meat, but a few vegetable shops scattered here and there), but it's become quite a popular tourist destination so now there are a lot of souvenir shops in there as well.
We tasted some very nice sake on the way through (just because it's morning is no excuse to not start drinking!), and then stopped at a coffee shop we found to have some (very expensive) coffee.
After this, we went our separate ways a bit, because Magda and myself wanted to see the Manga Museum, but the others didn't.
On the way there, back through Nishiki Market, we found a small place that was selling a box of six takoyaki (fairly large octopus dumplings) for ￥180, so we had some of those because we were very hungry. They were really good!
While we were eating, Magda noticed that a nearby bin had an inspirational message written on it: "Would you like to review what your life should be?"
Inspirational messages on rubbish bins. This is such a strange, foreign, and amazing land.
The Manga Museum was incredible! It's formerly a university building that's been converted into a museum, so it had that very strong smell of being in a school (I guess schools have the same smell everywhere in the world). It basically is like a library, with thousands of comics available to just pick up and read (if you can read Japanese). There was also a room chronicling the history of manga, with shelves with a selection of comics from each year from the '60s until present.
Magda was funny because she has never read any manga before; and she kept picking up ones at random which had some erotic content that is not so uncommon in Japanese manga.
Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside (but we snuck a few in anyway).
The souvenir shop at the end had some very cool things, and Shinsengumi souvenirs seem very popular. I didn't buy anything, but I'll be back before I leave to buy some.
After the museum, we went to Kyoto Gyoen park, in the rain; which made it look beautiful in a completely different way. Because of the weather there were very few other tourists, so that made it even better. We walked the perimeter of the park, took some photos, and ran into an Irish couple who were kind enough to take photos of us (and us of them).
We got back to the hostel at about 6.30, and met up with Andy and Jezeppa again; and headed out to a nearby onsen (public bath) which is highly recommended by the hostel staff. It was a very strange experience, being surrounded by a bunch of other naked men, but it was a refreshing bath. The Japanese just don't see it as strange, to be naked together in a bathhouse, to them it's just a fairly normal social experience.
It did give me a chance to feel very well-equipped though!
After the bath, we came back to the hostel to have dinner, and as usual, had some drinks. The hostel offers free kimono trying (yukata, technically) for ladies, so Magda tried it on.
Afterwards, perhaps thanks to the sake, everyone decided that Andy needed to try it on as well! The hostel staff were quite okay with this, surprisingly; and after Andy it was my turn.
Ah, Japan, land of the strange, and at times borderline gay.
Day 3 (Friday 8th Oct, 2010)
Today's goal: rent a bicycle.
I've heard that in Japan, and Kyoto in particular, a lot of people use bicycles to get around. Kyoto is completely flat, with lots of little alleys; so its a great setup for cycling.
There are a lot of bike rental agencies, but the cost is quite expensive. ￥500-1000 for a day, which is okay if you're only renting it for a day or two; but for three weeks the price adds up.
I did find out about a place that does long term rentals, a month for ￥3000. The place is on the north side of town, so I got a train out to the area.
This was my first time catching a train in Japan, so it was a bit confusing. The ticket machines have a shitload of buttons, with lots of kanji on them (which I can't read); but I found some English instructions over at the corner.
Turns out the process is really simple: you look at the line map, which tells you the cost to go to each other station on the line (of course, the further it is, the more it costs). So you find out the cost, then put that much (or more) into the machine. The buttons light up, and you press the one that has the amount you need to pay; then it gives you a ticket.
I found the bike shop easily enough, a very funky looking little store that looks like Japan crashed into Jamaica. The guy at the place was very friendly and helpful; and so now I have a bike!
Its one of those 1-speed hipster bikes with a basket at the front (these are buy large the most popular bikes here. I've seen one mountain bike, no road bikes, and one chopper-bicycle.
The bike is a redhead, so I've called her Kako (火子), which means "Fire Child". ("子/ko", which means "child", is popular at the end of Japanese girls' names, like Hanako (flower child).
There is also a wheel-lock built in, complete with key, so I don't have to worry about her getting stolen.
The rest of the day was pretty much spent cycling around town, which was a whole lot of fun in it's own right.
I got a bit lost, and managed to use the sun to orient myself.
I found my way to Kyoto Gyoen Park, which is the park, which is the park in which the Imperial Palace is located. I couldn't go into the palace itself, because you have to book that a few days in advance; but the garden is incredible. There are a lot of other sites within it; an old nobles' mansion, a shrine, a small baseball ground, and a tea ceremony house which you can go inside for a ￥100 donation.
The teahouse was perhaps the best part of that park; even though it was small the views of the pond beside it were incredible.
I had to come home fairly early to be a nerd and a Fantasy NBA draft with some old friends from high school, via MSN. They are all quite surprised at me liking basketball these days.
I got my time zones muddled though, and came back an hour early. The draft took about 2 hours, maybe longer, and the rest of the evening was spent inside drinking with my hostel-mates.
I've heard that in Japan, and Kyoto in particular, a lot of people use bicycles to get around. Kyoto is completely flat, with lots of little alleys; so its a great setup for cycling.
There are a lot of bike rental agencies, but the cost is quite expensive. ￥500-1000 for a day, which is okay if you're only renting it for a day or two; but for three weeks the price adds up.
I did find out about a place that does long term rentals, a month for ￥3000. The place is on the north side of town, so I got a train out to the area.
This was my first time catching a train in Japan, so it was a bit confusing. The ticket machines have a shitload of buttons, with lots of kanji on them (which I can't read); but I found some English instructions over at the corner.
Turns out the process is really simple: you look at the line map, which tells you the cost to go to each other station on the line (of course, the further it is, the more it costs). So you find out the cost, then put that much (or more) into the machine. The buttons light up, and you press the one that has the amount you need to pay; then it gives you a ticket.
I found the bike shop easily enough, a very funky looking little store that looks like Japan crashed into Jamaica. The guy at the place was very friendly and helpful; and so now I have a bike!
Its one of those 1-speed hipster bikes with a basket at the front (these are buy large the most popular bikes here. I've seen one mountain bike, no road bikes, and one chopper-bicycle.
The bike is a redhead, so I've called her Kako (火子), which means "Fire Child". ("子/ko", which means "child", is popular at the end of Japanese girls' names, like Hanako (flower child).
There is also a wheel-lock built in, complete with key, so I don't have to worry about her getting stolen.
The rest of the day was pretty much spent cycling around town, which was a whole lot of fun in it's own right.
I got a bit lost, and managed to use the sun to orient myself.
I found my way to Kyoto Gyoen Park, which is the park, which is the park in which the Imperial Palace is located. I couldn't go into the palace itself, because you have to book that a few days in advance; but the garden is incredible. There are a lot of other sites within it; an old nobles' mansion, a shrine, a small baseball ground, and a tea ceremony house which you can go inside for a ￥100 donation.
The teahouse was perhaps the best part of that park; even though it was small the views of the pond beside it were incredible.
I had to come home fairly early to be a nerd and a Fantasy NBA draft with some old friends from high school, via MSN. They are all quite surprised at me liking basketball these days.
I got my time zones muddled though, and came back an hour early. The draft took about 2 hours, maybe longer, and the rest of the evening was spent inside drinking with my hostel-mates.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Day 2 (Thursday 7th Oct, 2010)
Ah, my first proper day in Japan. I woke up kinda late, about 9.30ish, after a good 12-hour sleep to recover from the taxing series of flights.
My first order of business for the day was a proper look at Kyoto Station, to explore it a bit and pick up some English "what's on" type publications that can be found at the International Centre there.
The station is incredible. Its huge! Its 15 floors high, 9 of which are a very large Myer-esque department store. Lots of little outlets for various clothing labels all under the banner of one store, Isaten.
Lots of very nice clothing, but with hefty price tags. I'm not sure if I'm baller enough to spend $250 on a pullover, even if its awesome.
I went up along the "Skywalk" in the station, which is on the 10th floor and goes all the way across from one side to the other. It has a series of information boards along one side, detailing the history of the city, and the other side has windows to look out over the city. Of course I was very intrigued by the Shinsengumi boards, even though I can't read them, and among them there was a map of SSG-related places to visit around the city.
At the end of the Skywalk I went outside and up to the highest level, the "Happy Terrace" under the suggestion from someone. Not because Happy Terrace is amazing, but because its exactly the opposite: very anticlimatic, given the name, which leads to entertainment looking at the lacklustre surprise on the faces of other tourists. It was under repairs, though, (maybe they realized it was boring?) and there were no other tourists.
As I was leaving the station, I ran into a friendly policeman who approached me to ask if I need help. When I told him I was okay, he asked to see my passport. I didn't have it on me at the time, and apparently, its law in Japan for visitors to always have their passport on them.
HEY LONELY PLANET, THAT MIGHT BE WORTH NOTING.
Its probably common sense to have it with you anyway, but me and common sense are many years divorced. Anyway, the policeman was very friendly and happy to let me go, just so long as I always have it on my person from now on.
After a brief stop back at the inn to get changed (its so hot in Japan!) and get my passport, I was off to see my first temple: Nishi Hongan-ji.
Its a free-to-enter temple very near the station (and thus, near my inn). Needless to say, I was floored. I've seen so many of these buildings in movies, comics, games etc. but to actually see one live was amazing beyond words.
I also ran into an English-speaking monk called Fukuroma, who is an American born Japanese, who works at the temple offering an orientation for tourists.
He explained in detail about the history of the temple, the sect of Buddhism (a branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism), and its founder. It was thoroughly interesting, and made the visit there significantly more fun. Looking at pretty buildings is all well and good, but knowing about them, how and why they're there, is so much better.
Next stop was another free, station-near temple called Higashi Hongan-ji, which is another temple of the same sect. This one I found less amazing for the temple itself, but the great part was feeding the birds.
Outside one of the gates is an elderly man selling bird food, with which to feed the pigeons, who are VERY friendly and comfortable around people. They will literally eat out of your hand, sit on your arms/shoulders/head/anywhere they can, and eat food.
I'm not a bird-watcher or anything, but I've never been able to be that close to a bird aside from my sister's parrot. It was an amazing experience.
This was also where I started to properly use my Japanese (so far, I've spoken broken Jap in restaurants and the like, but very poorly). I saw some others feeding the birds, and asked them where to buy the birdfood. Then, I asked them to take a photo of me! I felt great.
After that, I had a brief look around the nearby Shosei-en Garden, which was lovely; but I have a feeling its nothing compared to some other gardens I will see here. I did get to see and get a photo of some "tourist geisha" though: people who are dressed as geisha for the sake of tourists, as opposed to real, trained geisha who entertain rich businessmen and are very rare to actually see.
A bit of a walk north from there found me at downtown Kyoto, Shijo-dori; the equivalent of Melbourne's Bourke St. or Auckland's Queen St. Of course, this is where a lot of Kyoto's youth hang out, which of course means two things: shoe shops and arcades! I think I found about 6 sneaker shops in the space of about one block (admittedly about 4 of them were branches of the same shop). While the normal prices are not significantly cheaper than Australia, and still a lot more expensive than USA, some of the stuff that's on special is really cheap. A pair of dunks for ~$70, for example! Also, because of the hard efforts of Converse Japan's design team, the range of Converse here is amazing. There's a pair of Chucks I think I'll have to buy which are white, with purple stitching and lacing. So hot.
As far as arcades, there are a ton of pachinko parlours/crane games, but I only found one proper arcade with fighting games. Its okay, because its A-cho, the only one that matters! A-cho is basically the premiere arcade in Kyoto, where all the top players play. They have ranbats for just about every game there. I will be back!
I came back to the inn to dump my photos (my camera was already full after 2 days!), and had some sake with some other other travellers; John and Sam from Manchester; and Magdelena from Poland. John and Sam had already had dinner, but Magda and I hadn't, so we went to a nearby Yakitori house. This was my first proper Japanese meal, and in a one of this tiny little restaurants that you see in films. It was great! We had a couple of beers there, then came back to the inn and had some more sake with some other guests (Andy from China, Charlotte from Taiwan, Thomas from Germany, and an Italian guy who's name I've forgotten).
It was pretty much the best day ever.
My first order of business for the day was a proper look at Kyoto Station, to explore it a bit and pick up some English "what's on" type publications that can be found at the International Centre there.
The station is incredible. Its huge! Its 15 floors high, 9 of which are a very large Myer-esque department store. Lots of little outlets for various clothing labels all under the banner of one store, Isaten.
Lots of very nice clothing, but with hefty price tags. I'm not sure if I'm baller enough to spend $250 on a pullover, even if its awesome.
I went up along the "Skywalk" in the station, which is on the 10th floor and goes all the way across from one side to the other. It has a series of information boards along one side, detailing the history of the city, and the other side has windows to look out over the city. Of course I was very intrigued by the Shinsengumi boards, even though I can't read them, and among them there was a map of SSG-related places to visit around the city.
At the end of the Skywalk I went outside and up to the highest level, the "Happy Terrace" under the suggestion from someone. Not because Happy Terrace is amazing, but because its exactly the opposite: very anticlimatic, given the name, which leads to entertainment looking at the lacklustre surprise on the faces of other tourists. It was under repairs, though, (maybe they realized it was boring?) and there were no other tourists.
As I was leaving the station, I ran into a friendly policeman who approached me to ask if I need help. When I told him I was okay, he asked to see my passport. I didn't have it on me at the time, and apparently, its law in Japan for visitors to always have their passport on them.
HEY LONELY PLANET, THAT MIGHT BE WORTH NOTING.
Its probably common sense to have it with you anyway, but me and common sense are many years divorced. Anyway, the policeman was very friendly and happy to let me go, just so long as I always have it on my person from now on.
After a brief stop back at the inn to get changed (its so hot in Japan!) and get my passport, I was off to see my first temple: Nishi Hongan-ji.
Its a free-to-enter temple very near the station (and thus, near my inn). Needless to say, I was floored. I've seen so many of these buildings in movies, comics, games etc. but to actually see one live was amazing beyond words.
I also ran into an English-speaking monk called Fukuroma, who is an American born Japanese, who works at the temple offering an orientation for tourists.
He explained in detail about the history of the temple, the sect of Buddhism (a branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism), and its founder. It was thoroughly interesting, and made the visit there significantly more fun. Looking at pretty buildings is all well and good, but knowing about them, how and why they're there, is so much better.
Next stop was another free, station-near temple called Higashi Hongan-ji, which is another temple of the same sect. This one I found less amazing for the temple itself, but the great part was feeding the birds.
Outside one of the gates is an elderly man selling bird food, with which to feed the pigeons, who are VERY friendly and comfortable around people. They will literally eat out of your hand, sit on your arms/shoulders/head/anywhere they can, and eat food.
I'm not a bird-watcher or anything, but I've never been able to be that close to a bird aside from my sister's parrot. It was an amazing experience.
This was also where I started to properly use my Japanese (so far, I've spoken broken Jap in restaurants and the like, but very poorly). I saw some others feeding the birds, and asked them where to buy the birdfood. Then, I asked them to take a photo of me! I felt great.
After that, I had a brief look around the nearby Shosei-en Garden, which was lovely; but I have a feeling its nothing compared to some other gardens I will see here. I did get to see and get a photo of some "tourist geisha" though: people who are dressed as geisha for the sake of tourists, as opposed to real, trained geisha who entertain rich businessmen and are very rare to actually see.
A bit of a walk north from there found me at downtown Kyoto, Shijo-dori; the equivalent of Melbourne's Bourke St. or Auckland's Queen St. Of course, this is where a lot of Kyoto's youth hang out, which of course means two things: shoe shops and arcades! I think I found about 6 sneaker shops in the space of about one block (admittedly about 4 of them were branches of the same shop). While the normal prices are not significantly cheaper than Australia, and still a lot more expensive than USA, some of the stuff that's on special is really cheap. A pair of dunks for ~$70, for example! Also, because of the hard efforts of Converse Japan's design team, the range of Converse here is amazing. There's a pair of Chucks I think I'll have to buy which are white, with purple stitching and lacing. So hot.
As far as arcades, there are a ton of pachinko parlours/crane games, but I only found one proper arcade with fighting games. Its okay, because its A-cho, the only one that matters! A-cho is basically the premiere arcade in Kyoto, where all the top players play. They have ranbats for just about every game there. I will be back!
I came back to the inn to dump my photos (my camera was already full after 2 days!), and had some sake with some other other travellers; John and Sam from Manchester; and Magdelena from Poland. John and Sam had already had dinner, but Magda and I hadn't, so we went to a nearby Yakitori house. This was my first proper Japanese meal, and in a one of this tiny little restaurants that you see in films. It was great! We had a couple of beers there, then came back to the inn and had some more sake with some other guests (Andy from China, Charlotte from Taiwan, Thomas from Germany, and an Italian guy who's name I've forgotten).
It was pretty much the best day ever.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Day 1 (Wednesday 6th Oct, 2010)
After a very uneventful 9 hour layover in Beijing, (during which I couldn't find myself some coffee because I only had the equivalent of about $7, and the cheapest coffee at the airport was about $10!) I was finally on the plane to Japan!
The plane that I was flying on was REALLY old. It had no personal screens, really small handluggage compartments, and even ashtrays in the armrests. Old. I have no fear of flying, but I did think this plane was going to crash.
I was tired as all hell from having not slept at all during my hours in Beijing airport, so I managed to sleep for most of the flight. Woke up eat "breakfast" (rice and pork...?), then went back to sleep. I can't normally sleep on planes, but I guess when you've been up for 30 hours straight that changed.
When I got off at Osaka Airport, I went to get some cash out, and freaked out when I Travelex card wasn't working. After 10 minutes of confusion and panicking, I tried again, and this time it worked! The first time I'd put the card into the machine the wrong way.
I had lunch at a cafe in the airport and discovered that my Japanese is a LOT worse than I realized, but the food was good. A club sandwhich with chicken and other stuff on it (I know, how Japanese!).
I dozed off a bit on the train from the airport (2000 yen instead of 3800, thanks to a JR Railpass for visitors), but while I was awake looking out the window was very interesting.
EVERYONE here rides a bike. I think I've seen more bikes on the road than cars. The general layout of the roads and houses and whatnot seems very haphazard and unplanned, which makes it quite interesting to look at.
Unfortunately my first day was pretty much a writeoff; I was so exhausted from the trip that I just went to sleep as soon as I got to my inn.
The plane that I was flying on was REALLY old. It had no personal screens, really small handluggage compartments, and even ashtrays in the armrests. Old. I have no fear of flying, but I did think this plane was going to crash.
I was tired as all hell from having not slept at all during my hours in Beijing airport, so I managed to sleep for most of the flight. Woke up eat "breakfast" (rice and pork...?), then went back to sleep. I can't normally sleep on planes, but I guess when you've been up for 30 hours straight that changed.
When I got off at Osaka Airport, I went to get some cash out, and freaked out when I Travelex card wasn't working. After 10 minutes of confusion and panicking, I tried again, and this time it worked! The first time I'd put the card into the machine the wrong way.
I had lunch at a cafe in the airport and discovered that my Japanese is a LOT worse than I realized, but the food was good. A club sandwhich with chicken and other stuff on it (I know, how Japanese!).
I dozed off a bit on the train from the airport (2000 yen instead of 3800, thanks to a JR Railpass for visitors), but while I was awake looking out the window was very interesting.
EVERYONE here rides a bike. I think I've seen more bikes on the road than cars. The general layout of the roads and houses and whatnot seems very haphazard and unplanned, which makes it quite interesting to look at.
Unfortunately my first day was pretty much a writeoff; I was so exhausted from the trip that I just went to sleep as soon as I got to my inn.
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