16th Thursday continuing with an observation about Kyoto. The temples, shrines and gardens are like oasis in this city. The city is very big and busy with lots of people hurrying about doing their thing. but when I go through a Tori or Temple gate the world changes and the city is outside the walls. It tends to be quieter and some people are practicing their religion bowing, ringing a bell, clapping hands or slipping through a sliding door to chant with other believers. Inside the walls you may find large expanses of white gravel between huge buildings or lovely rich green moss around ancient trees or quiet ponds with great koi swimming slowly. You can find a spot that quiets you.
Bob and I wanted to return to a shop near the Philosopher's Walk. With our past experience using taxis to go somewhere Bob thought it best to pick a well known Shrine close to where we wanted to go so he chose the Elkando Zenrin-Ji temple. Which turned out to be a great choice because we toured the temple waiting for the shop to open. The temple was in magnificent condition. It was right up against the hill so it was in the trees. It was large but intimate because the buildings were close together with covered walkways leading one to the other. There were small shaded ponds and gardens between the buildings. It even had a small mound of raked sand. The alters, statues and paintings were inspiring. The whole temple and grounds looked as if it had been recently refurbished so that everything was fresh in contrast to many of the other temples that seemed to be tired from all of the visitors and time.
We went on to the shop and ran into a real saleslady. She was pushing everything. Quit unlike the lady who waited on us a couple of days ago. Even so we purchased some very nice things. From there we walked to the Kyoto Handicraft Center which we had visited earlier. We are getting good at reading maps because we zeroed right in on our destination. Bob and I pretty well filled out gift list at the center. I had a embarrassing situation during check out. The procedure is for the salesperson to take a calculator and add the price of each item in front of you and then display the result so you know how much to pay. I had a shock because the amount showing was over 30000 yen which is about $300! Bob had warned me that the bracelets I was looking at for Asa my grand-daughter were pretty expensive. There were prices for thin, narrow and wide bracelets and I had miss read the zeros. So regretfully I chose another bracelet but it was still very nice.
Stopped at McDonalds for lunch because it was right next to the train station. I ordered what looked like a fish sandwich and it was. Thank goodness for all the food pictures and plastic food displays for us non Japanese.
Back on the Kiehan train and on to the Geon district for an evenings entertainment. At the station as we waited to cross the street there were three young Geishas in front of us. I was tempted to pull out my camera but it didn't seem right. I noticed that a local across the street was taking pictures of them. We walked from the station down the main thoroughfare to the Yasaka-jinja shrine as a starting point. The Kyoto book that Bob had bought for me months ago had a route to follow so we did our best to follow the books blue line. We weren't always successful but saw a lot of sights. We started down a side street and saw an interesting place to eat but I said lets continue. The further we went down this mysterious street the more it looked like we weren't in Kansas anymore. There were signs that were indicating a $20 for women and $30 for men cover charge so we turned around and went back to the interesting place. It was rather unique. The menu featured one item, a kind of omelet called a Issen-Yoshoku. We ordered one and a beer. The beer was a good addition because the I-Y was good but very salty. On the way out I took a picture of the preparation which was essentially lots of food on a sort of pancake with two raw eggs resting on top like a smiley face.
Went across the river and walked the length of the Ponto-cho a narrow walk flanked by innumerable restaurants. Only one siren tried to call us into her establishment so we must not have looked too flush. It was getting dark so the lights made for an exciting experience. We returned to a restaurant we had spotted at the beginning of the walk for yakitori and sake. As usual there was confusion. We ordered two servings and one came. Thinking this was cool the other would be right along. No such luck. I called the waiter with my Japanese version of excuse me and pointed to the menu that we had wanted two servings but only got one. So later here comes our two servings. but they were good so no damage done. Had another successful trip on the Kiehan train back to our street. A good day.
No comments:
Post a Comment