Bob's Selection of Photos

Our first morning in Japan.  We were up at dawn on most mornings.  Since Japan doesn't use daylight savings time, it was usually about 5 A.M..  Taken from the Radisson in Narita.

 Mt. Fuji wasn't shy (as it so often is) on our trip via Shinkansen to Kyoto.

 The intrepid travelers in a garden at Nijo Castle.

Joe Okada leads a walking tour of Kyoto on Saturday mornings.  He's witty and insightful, providing a unique and enjoyable experience.  Here we are at a tea house on the grounds of the Imperial Palace.

 

He starts his tour with a shot of sake in a local sake shop.  They feature an excellent local (Fushimi, just south of Kyoto) sake.  A great way to start any tour.

 

 

The next stop is a tea shop, where we tasted the first of this year's tea crop.  Naturally, we had to bring some back with us.

 

 

 

On our next tour (with Tours By Locals), we were guests for a private tea ceremony.  We had lots of opportunities to show just how clumsy and ignorant we were.  Here we are pictured with the tea master.  It was very understated and very special.

 

 

 Here's our favorite tour guide, Mayumi Morooka.  We met her during our last trip.  She's no longer a professional tour guide, but graciously offered to take us on a walk through the woods on a Sunday morning.

 

We started our walk at Tofukuji, a quiet and serene temple in the south of Kyoto.  Situated on a mountainside with lots of Japanese maples, a stream running through it, and beautiful rock gardens, it's become one of my favorite places in Kyoto.

 We walked through a nearby rural neighborhood.  This was a small shrine maintained by the community.  The gates are normally closed, and the water flows along the sides of the walkway.  Visitors open the gates, the waterfall becomes visible, and the water flows down the walkway.

 

This is a small bamboo forest a little farther along our walk.  This is 3 months growth!

 

Our walk went through the rear entrance to the Fushimi Inari Shrine (home to 10,000 tori gates).  You can see some of the first of the series.  Here, we had heard a frog, but never did find it.

 

 

 

We had to go to Nara, to see the Daibutsu (Great Buddha).  It was full of schoolchildren and tame deer.  I found a great wall hanging picturing the Buddha with an "Hello Kitty" in his lap here.

 

 

  The Silver Temple gardens, another of our favorite places.  The moss covered steps show the intense green that was all through the garden.  The glowing maple leaves were a good representation of the magic we felt there.

 

The pond at the Silver Temple.

 

 

 

On to Tokyo.  As far as I am concerned, this is the best reason to visit Tokyo.  This is the Daibutsu at Kamakura.  It's done in bronze and is centuries old.  This is the Buddha shown in "Around The World in 80 Days".

 

Here's Gary next to the Daibutsu's sandals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gary's Last Post

Monday May 20 Tokyo: We started the day hoping a taxi to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. This was the pickup point for the tour. The hotel was grand with a waterfall out in the parking entrance. We were very early so that we could have breakfast at the hotel. We were directed to the 38th floor. We went up with ears popping it was so fast. Stepping out of the elevator we walked in a very large dining area with ceiling to floor windows overlooking the city. The day was cold, misty with some fog so the view was gray but impressive. Breakfast was a buffet that started at $28 for the continental and more for the next level. Then the parade of waiters began with water, two kinds of juice, coffee and tea. There were two forks and two knives so this was not going to be a simple meal. There were two tables one with pastries, rolls, banana bread and soup. The other table had salad, fruit and smoked salmon. There was also a hot section with chefs waiting to fill our order for just about anything. Bob told a young lady that we had the continental and was the hot section open to us. I think there was some missed communication because she waved her hands and I think meant it was all available. So why was there two prices on the menu? It was all too much. We enjoyed the foggy view and had a very nice breakfast. In the lobby we met a Jewish couple who were taking the city tour and also waiting to be picked up. They had done extensive travel and liked Seattle and Portland. They confirmed that there were more Jews in the US than in Israel. About that time I discovered that I had left my camera back at Ks. Bob loaned me his camera and when I went to take a picture of the waterfall the message change battery displayed so no pictures on this tour.

We were lucky that we were early because a brisk young lady gathered us up and rushed us off to a bus. We then proceeded to two more stops gathering other tourists. I have to say something about the bus drivers here. The are faced with narrow streets, scooters, motorcycles and impossible traffic density but they manage to squeak through the tightest spaces with no horns or mad maneuvers. They are truly phenomenal.  We finally arrived at the dispersal center and were assigned a bus and seats. We were on our way to Fuji. Traffic just crawled. There was a two lane expressway out of the city but it was down to one lane because one lane was being repaved. The tour guide launched into a long story about how Japan had borrowed extensively from the world bank to finance their transportation system and went way into debt. There was a cycle of borrowing and debt with various political parties promising to be fiscally responsible and turning around and borrowing more.

The whole day was drizzly with low lying clouds that didn't promise a view of Fuji. Our first stop was at the Fuji visitors center. It had a shop and good exhibits that explained the geological evolution of Fuji. The problem was we only had 15 minutes there. Our slow start out of the city probably through the whole schedule off. From there we started on the way up to 5th station which is about half way up the mountain. Just below 5th station the clouds parted and we could see most of the mountain. It is very impressive with the long gentle slopes steepening towards the summit. There was still snow on the slopes and it was very beautiful. 5th station is where many climbers start their ascent of Fuji. There are several shops. Bob pointed out the aerosol cans of oxygen. Bob showed me around the station and we even stated up the summit trail for a short walk away from the hustle and bustle. It was quiet and we heard birds. I think Bob was moved by his memories.

Down the mountain we went to Kawaguchiko for lunch. It was a Japanese style lunch in smooth black bento box. There was tuna sushi, shrimp and eggplant tempura, breaded chicken, a noodle mizo soup, rice and a gooey sweet wrapped in a leaf and tea. It was excellent!

We continued on to Ashi lake that was very large. This is a resort area so there were lots of peddle paddle boats shaped like huge swans. We boarded a large catamaran and went for a brisk ride up the lake in a slight drizzle. At the next landing we docked just below the entrance to a cable car that went up to Mt. Komagatoke. It was weird ascending into the clouds. It was pretty damp at the top so I went back down on the first car. That was the last of the scheduled stops so it was back to Tokyo.

We arrived about 7:30 and were dropped off in the downtown area a few blocks from from Tokyo station. The walk to the station was a blaze of store fronts and bright signs. There was one sign that was a huge crawling sign like the one at Times Square. At the station everything speeded up. There were so many commuters rushing this way and that. There didn't seem to be any bumping it was all weave and forge ahead. We had one situation on a wide staircase with solid body of commuters coming down while we were going up. They must have been five wide and endless. Bob and I hugged the rail and made it up. at the top we noticed there was a railing separating the stairs that we could have taken but it was a case of how to cross that stream. On escalators you stand to the side because there are all these type A's that charge down the moving escalator. I even saw one working an iPad while he fast walked down. We were bushed so we got MacDonalds takeout grabbed a grape drink from a machine on the way back to Ks and collapsed. The last tour day was another good one.

Kamakura (Bob)

Today was the day we decided to see the large bronze Buddha in Kamakura. There's a local festival happening in Asakusa, so our day began with 500 men, dressed in traditional garb, but seemingly without pants, went marching past K's House. The fun hasn't ended all weekend. It reminds me of the time Cathy and I checked into an hotel, only to find that an Iron Man Triathalon was starting at the hotel at 6AM the next morning.

That happening concluded, we decided to tackle the train system of Tokyo. So the trip from Asakusa to Akiabara to Tokyo to Kamakura to Hase we managed to traverse in three hours and four trains. Friendly Japanaese helped us several times, noticing the dumbstruck expressions on our faces in the middle of Tokyo Station. The Japan Rail Passes were a blessing for the JR segments, since we could breeze through the ticketing process.

Once there, the Daibutsu was amazing. Cast of bronze plate, it is massive. It's also hollow, and we went into the interior at one point. By the time we got back to Kamakua proper, it was lunchtime, so we walked the streets of Kamakura until we found a small, family run restraunt (I'll fix these odious mispellings when we're home and put some pictures in). We had some ramen and some good pan fried gyoza.

After that, it was Tinker to Evers to Chance again, and somehow, we made it back to K's House, where the festival was still going full throttle. The Tokyo Tower is nearby, so we decided to walk to it. It didn't SEEM far until we had walked for twenty minutes and it wasn't appreciably closer. We decided to take a picture and give up, since it had started raining, when Gary realized he's left his camera at our last stop, so we quickly retraced our steps and retrieved his camera. The sales clerk at the store had naturally put it aside for him.

The streets were full of festival-goers and there were food stalls aplenty, so we decided to do street food for dinner. It was probably our cheapest dinner, but quite good. We carried it back to K's, along with two cans of peach nectar from one of the ubiquitous vending machines along the way. We weren't quite sure what we had purchased, but it turned out to be very interesting and edible. The skewered chicken skin was the only thing that didn't work for me.

Tomorrow is Mt Fuji, which I'll leave for Gary's impressions. It's supposed to rain, but anything can happen up there.

Into Tokyo (Gary)

May 18th Saturday. Today is my grandson Nathan's birthday here but not until tomorrow in the US this is a strange world.

We didn't want to checkout from KS House until 11:00 so that we would arrive in Tokyo around check in time at KS. So we had breakfast at the Zen cafe and then walked to the Shosei-en Garden about a block from KS House.  It is a huge garden surrounded by a high wall. It was a nice garden in which to spend our last day in Kyoto. There were large ponds with many lotus plants and flowers.  We saw a couple of large koi in shallow water searching through the mud for food. The mud was very fine so it was like smoke swirling up as they pushed through. Back to KS and checkout. Bob paid his respects to the barkeep at the Zen cafe before we left. We rolled our luggage and carried our bags to the train station. There was a market in the station where we got box lunches for the 2 1/2 hour ride to Tokyo. Bob had soba noodles and I had about 6 different pickled veggies on top of rice. Both were good choices.  At the Tokyo train station we got a little confused as to which JR train to transfer to to get to KS House. We had a map from Kyoto KS that indicated the JR Sobu line stops close to KS House. We struggled up stairs, no escalator or elevator with our luggage to the correct line but there was no maps that would tell us which direction to take. So we hauled everything back down stairs and found a large wall map with all of the lines leaving Tokyo station. There are a lot! A friendly English speaking Japanese lady saw our confusion and offered to help. She pointed out two lines that were completely different from the JR Sobu line. After she left we looked at all of the rail lines and took a taxi to KS House Tokyo. We arrived and the taxi drove away. I asked for Robert Smith's reservation. We were at the wrong KS House! Bob had reservations at the Oasis KS House. They said it was only a 20 minute walk and provided us with a map and pencil line to follow. But we couldn't follow the map and had to ask directions from strangers. One of the problems was that very few of the street signs had a translated English name. Finally made it to the Oasis and found that we had our own bathroom. Bob had reserved a room w/o but hey it is nice to have your own bathroom. It turns out there is a weekend festival going on this weekend. When we started out to find a restaurant the desk help said there was Taiko drumming going on right now up the street. We decided to check it out and it was tremendous. There must have been 8-10 drummers. Most of the drums were of medium size but there was one large horizontal drum that vibrated my whole body. It was a wonderful experience. We left to find the staff's favorite curry spot. We had the KS map and got lost as usual. An Indian walked up to us trying to get us to come to his place but we thought he was leading us on to who knows what. Asked at a small bar about the curry place on the map and they read the map better than we because they directed us around the corner. And there was the Indian urging us to come into his curry place. So in we went and had a fine curry dinner. I think Bob and I need to take a junior map reading course. So ended the night.

Leaving Kyoto (Bob)

We couldn't leave Kyoto without having sushi at least once.  We found a sushi train at Kyoto Station (how appropriate).  It was a real factory, servicing all of the tired commuters.  But it was very good.  We had lots of eel, maguro, and other things not readily identified.  We also had a clam miso.  Delicious.  We both staggered away, stuffed, and paid 2400 yen (about 24 dollars).  What a deal.

We were stopped by an elderly man just outside of the train station, who asked us to review a translation from Kanji to English.  Many pages worth.  He was most polite and grateful.  Another only in Japan experience.  His biggest problem was the phrase "stand on your own two feet".  We had to make it clear that he needed "feet" rather than "legs", and that "own" was an important part of the phrase.  It went on a little long, but it was very enjoyable.

Gion and Pontocho was a good experience.  I'd never been to Pontocho-what an interesting alley.  LOTS of bars and small side alleys that led to even more bars and jazz joints.  There were lots of women dressed in traditional garb, but we saw only one Meiko (geisha), with her face painted a stark white.

As usual, it's been a great experience.  The people have been so friendly to the stupid westerners.  Gary couldn't get over how clean the taxicabs were; and, of course, the driver all wore white gloves.  Some wore only one, keeping their money changing had undraped, which we assumed was to keep the glove clean.

We saw lots of shrines and temples, of course.  Higashi Hongon-ji, one of my favorites, was almost completely draped in metal for reconstruction.  I was sorry Gary didn't get to see the main gate, which is massive and beautiful.  Eikan-do was especially good.  It was quiet, serene, and the gardens were very nice.  The last time I saw this temple was in late July in extreme heat.  This was a much nicer experience, plus I was about to collapse from heat exhaustion.

We only visited Mr. Takeda's yakitori establishment once, thanks to Gary's inquisitive culinary curiousity.  He did turn down a fugu (puffer fish) dinner in Gion, but it was kind of pricey.  I guess he didn't want to mess with nerve toxins.  I was tempted, though, but I'm that kind of guy.

Tomorrow we're off on the Shinkansen to Tokyo.  I'm not ready for the hugeness, but we've scheduled a day trip to Mt. Fuji, so we'll get out of the city for a while.

I'm ready for a box spring.  I really like K's House, but the beds are essentially futons.  I haven't slept in a bunk bed for ages.  It's a lot harder these days for me to get up to the top bunk.  At least we stayed at the Radisson in Narita when we first arrived, so we could get rested from the plane trip before we tackled Tokyo Station and the trip to Kyoto.  Plus, at $85 a night for a resort level hotel, it was a real bargain.

More From Gary

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.

Gary's Post

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!