August 14-15, 2001-Geisha Sightings
(photos-Colonel Sanders Kyoto style & Riverfront restautants)
In the evening we tried to see geisha on their way to work and failed. It took us over an hour of weaving in alleyways to find a restaurant for a substantial dinner. We did try street food. They were making a sticky rice skewered item basted with something sweet and wrapped in seaweed. It was pretty bland, but David liked it.
In the evening we tried to see geisha on their way to work and failed. It took us over an hour of weaving in alleyways to find a restaurant for a substantial dinner. We did try street food. They were making a sticky rice skewered item basted with something sweet and wrapped in seaweed. It was pretty bland, but David liked it.
We start taking malaria pills tonight in preparation for Viet Nam and needed a full stomach. Many restaurants have only Japanese menus and discourage non-Japanese. A man handing out flyers walked into his restaurant and closed the door as we approached. Once we passed, he came out and began distributing leaflets again. A menu that did have translations listed “ramb” (lamb) ribs. We’ve been able to find reasonable food if we eat simply and stay away from Kobe beef dishes and restaurants catering to businessmen. We’ve been paying about $5-7/person for lunch and $7-10/ person for dinner. Remember there’s no tipping. This is usually miso soup or salad and a main dish. They get you on soft drinks at $3 a glass. We’re sticking to water, which is safe to drink here. Pop in a machine is only about $1. We found an omelet shop where a totally non-English speaking server welcomed us warmly and somehow explained the different omelets to us. They had a menu with limited English, which helped. The omelets were stuffed with saffron rice and a meat or veggie of your choice.
We managed to get back to the hotel by bus, which was a trick. David’s job is to interpret bus and subway maps. We’re now showered and ready to fall into bed and it’s only 9:30 P.M. That’s what walking all day will do for you.
Getting Familiar With Kyoto
This morning we took a bus tour of palaces and temples. Our guide had a very strong accent and we strained to understand her. It must have been even harder for the Mexican couple we’d met on the bullet train the other day who were on this tour. I zoned out as today’s guide listed the different emperors. We learned that fire is the enemy of wood buildings and fireworks are outlawed in Kyoto. They were the cause of several palace buildings burning over the years. We also learned that 36 Celsius is very hot. That was the temp today.
After lunch we made our way to a fresh food market downtown. It runs into another market area, which is a covered street mall with all kinds of goods. Smack in the middle of it is a charming shrine with a tiny garden. There are over 4,000 temples and shrines in Kyoto alone and as many deities. There’s even a shrine for football (soccer). David and I had the same reaction at the shrine. We didn’t discuss our thoughts until later, but separately we thought about saying a prayer. One of our guides had shown us the drill, but we felt uncomfortable about it. Something about “having other gods before you,” I guess. After we left the shrine, we tried some delicious mini-pancakes filled with a sweet bean curd for a snack. We watched the entire automated process of making them.
To get back to the hotel we had to change trains. I’m proud to report we did it successfully although we were prepared to chance going in the wrong direction and having to turn around. After all, the train was air-conditioned and we were sitting down.
On our way out of the train station, a young man who was doing an assignment for school stopped David. He had to interview a native English speaking person. The questionnaire was about food. He was so nervous he was shaking. We kept reassuring him that we had the time to talk, but he kept apologizing for the interruption.
For dinner we found a place called Fu Fu Tei where shabu shabu is served. There’s a hot plate set into the table. You’re brought an iron pot of water into which you put raw vegetables, raw meat of your choice, raw ground meat to be made into balls, raw noodles, and tofu. This boils and you pluck the cooked food from the water with chopsticks, put it in a rice bowl, and top it with a soy/citrus sauce and a tangy sesame based garlic paste sauce. It was fun and very good. We may go back to try their tepanyaki, which is grilled at the table.
After dinner we wandered around looking for ice cream and failed so went to take the subway back to the hotel. We started speaking to a Western looking couple also trying to decipher the subway map and learned that she was a nurse/administrator who was here to speak to Japanese medical educators on genetics. Japanese are just getting started in the field. The couple was from Buffalo, N.Y. and staying at our hotel. After some inquiries in sign language we learned that the train couldn’t get us there from where we were. We shared a cab.
Before we leave Japan, I want to note:
MacDonald’s doesn’t sell diet pop; women in ladies rooms bow as one vacates a stall and another enters; taxi drivers wear starched white long sleeved shirts and ties; cabs are air-conditioned, immaculate, and rear seats are covered in white fitted crocheted seat-covers.
I remarked on how clean it is here, but I may not have mentioned the lack of trashcans. It’s a mystery, but there isn’t much litter. I carried a coke can around with me on one tour until some doorman took pity on me and relieved me of it.
We’ll be on our way to Chiang Mai tomorrow at 6:30 AM. We fly to Hong Kong, Bangkok, and then Chiang Mai. It’s a long day. We arrive at 8:30 PM.
Toby
We managed to get back to the hotel by bus, which was a trick. David’s job is to interpret bus and subway maps. We’re now showered and ready to fall into bed and it’s only 9:30 P.M. That’s what walking all day will do for you.
Getting Familiar With Kyoto
This morning we took a bus tour of palaces and temples. Our guide had a very strong accent and we strained to understand her. It must have been even harder for the Mexican couple we’d met on the bullet train the other day who were on this tour. I zoned out as today’s guide listed the different emperors. We learned that fire is the enemy of wood buildings and fireworks are outlawed in Kyoto. They were the cause of several palace buildings burning over the years. We also learned that 36 Celsius is very hot. That was the temp today.
After lunch we made our way to a fresh food market downtown. It runs into another market area, which is a covered street mall with all kinds of goods. Smack in the middle of it is a charming shrine with a tiny garden. There are over 4,000 temples and shrines in Kyoto alone and as many deities. There’s even a shrine for football (soccer). David and I had the same reaction at the shrine. We didn’t discuss our thoughts until later, but separately we thought about saying a prayer. One of our guides had shown us the drill, but we felt uncomfortable about it. Something about “having other gods before you,” I guess. After we left the shrine, we tried some delicious mini-pancakes filled with a sweet bean curd for a snack. We watched the entire automated process of making them.
To get back to the hotel we had to change trains. I’m proud to report we did it successfully although we were prepared to chance going in the wrong direction and having to turn around. After all, the train was air-conditioned and we were sitting down.
On our way out of the train station, a young man who was doing an assignment for school stopped David. He had to interview a native English speaking person. The questionnaire was about food. He was so nervous he was shaking. We kept reassuring him that we had the time to talk, but he kept apologizing for the interruption.
For dinner we found a place called Fu Fu Tei where shabu shabu is served. There’s a hot plate set into the table. You’re brought an iron pot of water into which you put raw vegetables, raw meat of your choice, raw ground meat to be made into balls, raw noodles, and tofu. This boils and you pluck the cooked food from the water with chopsticks, put it in a rice bowl, and top it with a soy/citrus sauce and a tangy sesame based garlic paste sauce. It was fun and very good. We may go back to try their tepanyaki, which is grilled at the table.
After dinner we wandered around looking for ice cream and failed so went to take the subway back to the hotel. We started speaking to a Western looking couple also trying to decipher the subway map and learned that she was a nurse/administrator who was here to speak to Japanese medical educators on genetics. Japanese are just getting started in the field. The couple was from Buffalo, N.Y. and staying at our hotel. After some inquiries in sign language we learned that the train couldn’t get us there from where we were. We shared a cab.
Before we leave Japan, I want to note:
MacDonald’s doesn’t sell diet pop; women in ladies rooms bow as one vacates a stall and another enters; taxi drivers wear starched white long sleeved shirts and ties; cabs are air-conditioned, immaculate, and rear seats are covered in white fitted crocheted seat-covers.
I remarked on how clean it is here, but I may not have mentioned the lack of trashcans. It’s a mystery, but there isn’t much litter. I carried a coke can around with me on one tour until some doorman took pity on me and relieved me of it.
We’ll be on our way to Chiang Mai tomorrow at 6:30 AM. We fly to Hong Kong, Bangkok, and then Chiang Mai. It’s a long day. We arrive at 8:30 PM.
Toby
2 comments:
Fascinating adventure! I feel sad that the restaurant hawkers shunned foreigners. Why don't they like us?
Great to hear from you.
You're living in the location my daughter and her partner dream about.
I don't know if the restaurant hawkers ignored us because we were American or we didn't look as if we could afford their fare.
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