It is Tuesday the 14th in Kyoto. My first entry in this blog. First some impressions of people, places and etc. The people I have met here are very helpful and considerate. Many is the time that I have approached someone to ask information about where to find something or order something and after patiently waiting through many hand jesters and broken Japanese on my part they have usually sent me to the right place or led me to an item I was looking for. On one memorable occasion we were on the 11th floor of the Kyoto train station in a restaurant area looking for Tenichi a "sublime tempura" place. I approached a young waitress and excused myself asking if she knew where Tenichi was she "hied" and asked another waitress to watch out for her while she led us to Tenichi (which had no English sign outside). After many smiles and aregatos and bows we parted. The traffic here is amazing. It is a mix of bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, taxis, vehicles large and small all speeding down in such close formation that it boggles my mind and yet at a crosswalk all traffic comes to a stop and waits for you to pass in front of them so that they can proceed behind. There is no rush to cut in front of you even though there is room to. Now the sidewalk is a little different experience. Everyone rides bicycles on the sidewalks, mothers with children on the back, teenagers texting, business men and women all dressed in black with briefcases. The thing is that they are coming at you from the front and back on these narrow sloping sidewalks with lots of bumps and grates and poles. They aren't aggressive but they are fast and you hate to slow them down. I am constantly caught unawares by a bicycle suddenly whipping by me with inches to spare or feel there is something behind me only to look back and see a cyclist standing on their peddles almost stationary waiting for an opening to go through. It can be a little unnerving at night.Don't get me wrong it is really a nice experience to walk in the evening here especially after a hot day when the wind is warm yet cool on the way back to KS.
But on to places. Monday Bob and I were really on our own after being toured by bus and person. We started with a brunch breakfast at the train station (the train station has everything). Bob went off for a smoke at the end of his meal, I was slower and would catch up with him. I went to paid and left to find him when the waitress came running out and motioned me back to where Bob was in the smoking section of the restaurant - they really look after you. We went to the Silver Pavilion. Bob had said that it has the best garden and was right. The first feature that stood out was a raked area of white sand that was perfect in form and pattern. The garden was partially hillside with lots of shade and filtered sunlight. It was a beautiful mix of winding stone pathway, moss, twisted trees, roots and stone. It was a very tranquil experience.
From the Silver Pavilion we walked the Philosopher's Walk or Route. It is about 2.5 kilometers of stone path adjacent to a narrow water canal that runs through a residential area with an occasional small restaurant. Toward the end we found the Rat Shrine Bob was looking for. Apparently the last time he was here with Adam and Steve he was so tired he sat it out while they went to see the Shrine. It is a nice little shrine with two big rats on either side of the shrine. A little further down the path we ran across several stray cats. I don't know if they know about the Rat Shrine but they seemed content. From there we went to the Heian-jigu Shrine which is 3/4 scale and built around the 1890's. It has a nice garden walk with lots of quiet flowing water full of small fish and at least one very large carp. There was an old railroad car sitting amoungst the trees probably of some significance but no sign to tell the passerby. We next went to a handicraft store that was behind the Shrine. We walked the length of the Shrine (a long way) with no store in sight. Walked back and there was a sign right at the place where we had crossed the street but it was facing such that you couldn't see it unless you were coming back as we were.
Good that we returned because the store had 3 floors of a wonderful choice of gifts. We scored big.
We took a taxi back to KS House. I handed the driver a KS card with the address and what followed was a repeat of our taxi experience when we went to the assembly point for Joe Okada's walking tour. Apparently the streets of Kyoto are not GPS friendly because drivers have the a very hard time finding places they are not familiar with. There is a flurry of maps and GPS punching and sometimes frantic phone calls. Fascinating.
That evening we went to Tenichi for tempura at the train station 11th floor. It was listed as a top place (pun) to eat with "sublime tempura" and it really was. If you are ever in Kyoto it is a marvelous dining experience. but you will probably have to ask directions like we did.
Tuesday we went to Nara to visit the Todai Ji Temple. There are many free roaming deer looking for deer cookies. Bob said the can hound you if you have cookies so I didn't. There were also many school children but they were pretty regimented not free roaming. One asked if he could interview me. I said yes and he asked my name, where I was from and what I like in Japan. Bob said it is part of their school English curriculum. On to the Great Buddha.
The Shrine is a huge wooden building said to be the biggest wooden building in the world that shelters one of the largest bronze Buddhas in the world. When I entered the building the Buddha was just big. It is hard to take in how big it really is. I took many pictures but they don't do the Buddha justice. From there we went back to the train station and had a Moss Burger. An experience. Mine was like a big Mac in a paper pouch. It quickly become evident why it is in a pouch because all the super sauce drains down to the bottom and when you finish there is this puddle of sauce that would be in your lap if not for the pouch. We finished the day with ramen noodles at a local diner. It was a working mans diner with lots of hellos and goodwill for those coming in and leaving. A good day!
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