6/23
Busy day. I decided to go on a tour to see the Terracotta Warriors after much internal debate because it would've cost me at least 80 yuan (and I don't know if I've explained this, but RMB/yuan/kwai are all the same value, it's the equivalent of USD/dollar/buck or GBP/pound/quid) to go by myself and the tour was 190, but that included lunch, an English tour guide, an air-conditioned van to get me there and a stop at the Temple of the Eight Immortals (the royal temple in Xi'an). As it turned out, the tour was an excellent decision, mostly due to our wonderful guide, Jaija.
Jaija, whose name I remember because she said we could call her Lady Ja Ja, spoke very good English with an understandable accent and was very knowledgeable. Just as importantly, however, she was fun. She was adorable, really, and happy and excited the whole time and managed to unite our group and really bring us out.
The terracotta warriors were impressive, but didn't wow me as expected. They were cool and I was glad I'd gone but I guess I felt like seeing them in person wasn't really that much more exciting than seeing photographs of them. Some of the details were quite impressive though, and the number itself (8,000 total, not all visible or reconstructed yet) was astonishing. I do want to tell you a bit about the man who ordered them built though, as he's quite fascinating- my favorite Chinese historical figure so far besides Empress Xixi.
Emperor Qin ascended the throne as King of the State of Qin at age 13, and in the year 221 B.C., he unified China, which he ruled for eleven years, until he died at 49, completely insane at the end. In that time, he became the first Emperor of China by ruthlessly uniting the warring provinces, started the construction of, and completed the first section of, the Great Wall, built most of the terracotta army and drank mercury every day.
The mercury was supposed to make him immortal and a river of mercury still runs inside his mountain tomb 1.5 km away from the warriors, which is why it's not open to visit. He believed that the mercury would allow him to have a sort of afterlife and the warriors were there to protect/fight for him during said afterlife. They were never supposed to be uncovered.
I'm sure you know that what makes the terracotta warriors so special is the fact that all of the faces are unique but you may not know that they were modeled after real workers at the time. The paid for their artistic immortality with their mortal lives as the Emperor didn't want anyone making copies.
If you'd like to see a very good and truly aesthetic movie about China, the uniting of China and Emperor Qin, I highly recommend watching Hero with Jet Li. Great movie, and from what I've seen, it does a good job of showing the different landscapes of China.
Also, random, but did you know Mulan was based on a true story?
So, it was neat. The lunch was absolute crap and the temple was not particularly special, though they had a bunch of peacocks and I thought it was funny that they had six male peacocks for the single peahen.
I guess I just had some extra energy and was afraid I wouldn't have another chance to, but I decided this evening would be a good time to do my bike ride on the city wall. I knew it was 40RMB to get in, though only 20 with my student ID) and another 20 to rent the bicycle. Unfortunately, no one had bothered to tell me (of the several people I'd spoken to about it) that a 200RMB deposit was required and that the woman renting them was going to be a heinous bitch about it. I curse a bit regularly, but I try to keep this blog pretty clean but this woman was so awful I wanted to throttle her. I only had 100 on me for the deposit (besides the 20 for the rental) so I offered her my student ID and my debit card as a deposit in addition to the 100. She said she couldn't take it and refused to look at me and started helping someone else. The customer service here is awful in general and they are terribly rude and dismissive like that commonly but this witch was even more so.
Sometimes, things are impossible due to language difficulties. I get that and am always willing to pay for mistakes due to that since I'm the one who doesn't speak the language properly. Sometimes, things are impossible due to crap/ unfair company policies which the person can't change. I get that too, and try not to get angry or be rude to the representative who has no say in the policies they're required to enforce.
Neither was the case here. The woman was just being a bitch because she could and she felt like it (and incidentally, the second is virtually never the case in China) when I'd been very polite but was obviously desperate as the only reason I'd paid the entrance fee to do this. She wouldn't help me at all and it was the only place I could see where I could rent a bicycle so I couldn't just go somewhere else (though I later saw that there was another place to do so on the other side, but run by the same company). When it became clear that she wasn't going to help me and was pretending her English was significantly less than it was, I got pissed and went downstairs. I explained to the guard that since I couldn't rent a bicycle, I wanted a refund because I didn't want to see any of it except by bike. He got his manager and she said that it would be fine with my debit card, and later, that it would be fine with just 100 deposit. She radioed someone and said I could go back up to the wall and it would be okay.
It wasn't. The same awful woman still said I couldn't (and admittedly, I was being quite rude back at this point) and refused to help me in any way, or even look at me. I grabbed the radio, assuming that if I said something the manager (of the wall, I should explain, not of the company renting the bikes) would come up and help me so I said "Hello, no one is helping me at all up here," and heard nothing back. I went over to a group of men who also worked for the company and said I wanted to speak to the boss and they said the woman was the boss. I told them I just wanted to rent a bike but only had 100, and one of the men said I could. I told him that she wouldn't let me and he went around and made her take it. Finally. The entire ordeal took over 30 minutes and was incredibly frustrating, even more so when someone later told me they'd only had to deposit 200 total for three people. I don't know what that woman's problem was. I really was very nice at the beginning and she just decided to screw with my head for no reason. Also, this is a good example of a time when I am willing to make a big deal of something and argue it because I was being screwed over for absolutely no logical reason whatsoever (like one of the two listed above).
It really did ruin the entire experience for me. I was so upset. You can say I shouldn't have let it bother me so much, but screw you, it did and I did let it. It also just wasn't that fun or exciting in general. Yes, it was cool to ride a bike on top of a huge city wall, but the scenery wasn't diverse, interesting or pretty, it was just boring and repetitive.
Upon returning my bike after the 20-30 km ride, the bitch told me "You're over-time." I sure as hell was not. It was 8:30 on the dot, the time they closed, and I was supposed to have it for 100 minutes up until then, which I would've had if she hadn't delayed me for 30 at the beginning. As it was, I'd only had it for about 75. So no, I definitely wasn't. I grabbed my 100 that she put down on the table, not even handing it to me, and told her "Screw you, you stupid bitch," and stormed off. And no, I'm not the slightest bit ashamed of what I said and I think she deserved that and more.
Eventually I calmed down- my daily free beer from the hostel bar helped, and started talking to a group of people who gave me a free beer because they somehow had many extras, like four per person at the table. We started to play Kings, drank for quite a while longer and then went down to the bar to watch the World Cup games. England was playing Slovenia at the same time the U.S. was playing Algeria and both England and the U.S. needed decisive victories to continue onto the next round. The bar was only playing England's game, which sucked, but I wasn't going to make any really serious effort to watch it somewhere else so I watched that. Halfway through the game, a group of Americans convinced the bartenders to switch one of the tvs to the U.S. game. I didn't realize this until a bit later, but still soon enough to join them to watch Landon Donovan score an awesome goal. It was really fun to watch in a bar with so many people so excited about the games. Both the U.S. and England won their games, 1-0 and as there weren't many (any?) Slovenians or Algerians at the hostel, everyone was happy and excited.
With the group of Americans, and at least one English girl and two English guys, we decided to continue drinking somewhere else. We ended up as a club, whose English name was "Club," and after drinking lots more, including more beer and more of the gratis Jaeger and Red Bull type mix the Chinese love to give us foreigners, and talking to a bunch more random people, some who spoke English and some who didn't, I eventually got home and went to bed, drunk, but not too much so.
Showing posts with label Temples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Temples. Show all posts
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Bell Tolls For ME!
6/22
Since I'd booked this hostel ahead of time, I'd also arranged for a free pickup from the train station. My train got in at 5:22 a.m. and they'd told me previously that the service didn't start until 6 a.m. so I said I'd just wait. At about 6:10 there was still no sign of anyone so I called them and they told me the service didn't start until 6:30. This annoyed me because if I'd known that from the beginning, I just would've caught a cab, but now it didn't make sense to. I asked if the person would be there right at 6:30 and they said he would. Surprisingly he actually was and I found him right away and he took me right back to the hostel, so it was okay. I couldn't check into my room, naturally, but they said I'd be able to at 12. After the first Beijing hostel debacle, I didn't trust them, so I asked them if they were sure I'd be able to actually go in then and if it would be cleaned and everything and they said yes. They also gave me a coupon for a free coffee in their Cafe and a coupon for a free beer at their bar for each of the two nights I planned to stay. And they had four very young adorable white kittens to pet. They must've been more than two weeks old because their eyes were open, but they couldn't really walk properly yet.
At the Cafe, I got a Jasmine tea instead of Coffee and had a decently sized Western breakfast, screwed around online, played with the kittens, Skyped my Mom and Grandmother and tried unsuccessfully to sort out/ plan my train ticket to Mongolia (which took quite a while, though everyone was very helpful- it was just a difficult thing to do and explain). I also saw Terry again, which was lucky since he was leaving that day so he gave me his email so I'll message him and maybe we'll meet up again in SE Asia. At 12 I went up to my room and was thrilled to find that my keycard worked and my room was clean and ready for me. I took a long nap (about two hours) and felt much better upon waking.
I decided I'd just wander around Xi'an to try to find some food and get a feel for the city. The food was forgettable, as seems to be the law in China, but I found my way to the Bell Tower in the middle of the city. The tower itself wasn't that exciting, but I arrived in one of their several daily concerts and the music was really lovely. With my student ID card (the one thing B.U. really did right was to not put an expiration date on our cards), I paid just over half the price of a regular ticket for entry into the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower, so I walked over there next. The performance wasn't for another hour or two and I didn't want to wait so I put my two years of fifth and sixth grade drumming experience to work and pounded on the giant ones outside (except for the one or two that randomly had a sign saying not to) quite happily. There was an odd little type of museum of furniture and some cute guy stared at me, but he was too young, sadly.
At night I went to the Big Goose pagoda to watch the water and lights show, which was superb- the best one I ever remember seeing. It also lasted for about thirty minutes, which impressed me, though I will admit that after a while it got a little boring. Even though it was a Tuesday night, the place was packed with viewers and since I wanted to be able to see well, I got closer and got a little wet. The thought occurred to me that it would be really romantic and a nice thing to share with someone.
Since I'd booked this hostel ahead of time, I'd also arranged for a free pickup from the train station. My train got in at 5:22 a.m. and they'd told me previously that the service didn't start until 6 a.m. so I said I'd just wait. At about 6:10 there was still no sign of anyone so I called them and they told me the service didn't start until 6:30. This annoyed me because if I'd known that from the beginning, I just would've caught a cab, but now it didn't make sense to. I asked if the person would be there right at 6:30 and they said he would. Surprisingly he actually was and I found him right away and he took me right back to the hostel, so it was okay. I couldn't check into my room, naturally, but they said I'd be able to at 12. After the first Beijing hostel debacle, I didn't trust them, so I asked them if they were sure I'd be able to actually go in then and if it would be cleaned and everything and they said yes. They also gave me a coupon for a free coffee in their Cafe and a coupon for a free beer at their bar for each of the two nights I planned to stay. And they had four very young adorable white kittens to pet. They must've been more than two weeks old because their eyes were open, but they couldn't really walk properly yet.
At the Cafe, I got a Jasmine tea instead of Coffee and had a decently sized Western breakfast, screwed around online, played with the kittens, Skyped my Mom and Grandmother and tried unsuccessfully to sort out/ plan my train ticket to Mongolia (which took quite a while, though everyone was very helpful- it was just a difficult thing to do and explain). I also saw Terry again, which was lucky since he was leaving that day so he gave me his email so I'll message him and maybe we'll meet up again in SE Asia. At 12 I went up to my room and was thrilled to find that my keycard worked and my room was clean and ready for me. I took a long nap (about two hours) and felt much better upon waking.
I decided I'd just wander around Xi'an to try to find some food and get a feel for the city. The food was forgettable, as seems to be the law in China, but I found my way to the Bell Tower in the middle of the city. The tower itself wasn't that exciting, but I arrived in one of their several daily concerts and the music was really lovely. With my student ID card (the one thing B.U. really did right was to not put an expiration date on our cards), I paid just over half the price of a regular ticket for entry into the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower, so I walked over there next. The performance wasn't for another hour or two and I didn't want to wait so I put my two years of fifth and sixth grade drumming experience to work and pounded on the giant ones outside (except for the one or two that randomly had a sign saying not to) quite happily. There was an odd little type of museum of furniture and some cute guy stared at me, but he was too young, sadly.
At night I went to the Big Goose pagoda to watch the water and lights show, which was superb- the best one I ever remember seeing. It also lasted for about thirty minutes, which impressed me, though I will admit that after a while it got a little boring. Even though it was a Tuesday night, the place was packed with viewers and since I wanted to be able to see well, I got closer and got a little wet. The thought occurred to me that it would be really romantic and a nice thing to share with someone.
Monday, May 31, 2010
The Most Disgusting Sounding Thing I've Eaten...So Far
5/14
Didn't do too much today but. I've been trying to get caught up on this blog still, and it gets a bit frustrating- it's starting to feel like a chore that I'm doing for only my Mom to read. Okay, I'm done being a baby now. So, did little during the day, emailed Mei and at night Judy came over. She still seemed horribly rushed and anxious, but at least this time she randomly brought a bunch of food for me. She gave me two different types of pies; pineapple and another one that were pretty good. She also brought some wonderful tea and some pastry sort of snacks. I told her my general plans but wouldn't definitively agree to anything and gave her Mei's phone back.
She said we should go to Longshan temple and the Tourist Night Market right then, and since I had energy from sitting on my ass all day, I agreed. Once we were on the move, I made a serious effort to get her to calm down by asking her questions and talking slowly. Though she never calmed down completely, she improved quite a bit, at which point I could actually enjoy talking to her.
Judy does incentive travel, for companies and so had traveled a good deal and so we talked about that for quite a while. When she wasn't so anxious and didn't have people making crazy demands on her, she was really very cool.
After getting off the MRT we were in between the night market and the temple so she stopped to make me try pig's blood cake, one of her favorite foods. She also made absolutely sure that I knew exactly what I was eating by typing out the word blood on her phone for me to see as I hadn't understood her accent on that word. The taste itself wasn't really bad, it was just such a terrible idea that I couldn't help the name from entering my judgment of the food itself so it was really the idea that actually churned my stomach. It looked like a long, rectangular piece of chocolate cake covered in a ground sweet, peanut mixture. I tasted the peanut mix more than any other flavor, but mostly I just tasted the name: pig's blood cake. Ugh!
Next, we walked over to Longshan Temple, which was incredible. This was yet another point when I really, really wished I had my camera. It was detailed and every surface was totally covered in decoration. Besides dragons and tigers and different buddhas, I saw what looked like a phoenix and asked Judy about it. She told me it was, you know, the thing...Harry Potter and the thing. So it was a phoenix which I just thought was interesting because I didn't know that there were phoenixes in Chinese mythology and I really like phoenixes. One or two people have told me I was like a phoenix and I thought that was just about the greatest compliment ever.
The temple closed and we walked over to the Huaxi Street Tourist Night Market. She had me try several different traditional foods, most were edible but not great. One interesting thing that was available at this market- though I didn't get to try it- was python. They ate regular ones, but most of the live ones displayed were albino, presumably because they look better.
Didn't do too much today but. I've been trying to get caught up on this blog still, and it gets a bit frustrating- it's starting to feel like a chore that I'm doing for only my Mom to read. Okay, I'm done being a baby now. So, did little during the day, emailed Mei and at night Judy came over. She still seemed horribly rushed and anxious, but at least this time she randomly brought a bunch of food for me. She gave me two different types of pies; pineapple and another one that were pretty good. She also brought some wonderful tea and some pastry sort of snacks. I told her my general plans but wouldn't definitively agree to anything and gave her Mei's phone back.
She said we should go to Longshan temple and the Tourist Night Market right then, and since I had energy from sitting on my ass all day, I agreed. Once we were on the move, I made a serious effort to get her to calm down by asking her questions and talking slowly. Though she never calmed down completely, she improved quite a bit, at which point I could actually enjoy talking to her.
Judy does incentive travel, for companies and so had traveled a good deal and so we talked about that for quite a while. When she wasn't so anxious and didn't have people making crazy demands on her, she was really very cool.
After getting off the MRT we were in between the night market and the temple so she stopped to make me try pig's blood cake, one of her favorite foods. She also made absolutely sure that I knew exactly what I was eating by typing out the word blood on her phone for me to see as I hadn't understood her accent on that word. The taste itself wasn't really bad, it was just such a terrible idea that I couldn't help the name from entering my judgment of the food itself so it was really the idea that actually churned my stomach. It looked like a long, rectangular piece of chocolate cake covered in a ground sweet, peanut mixture. I tasted the peanut mix more than any other flavor, but mostly I just tasted the name: pig's blood cake. Ugh!
Next, we walked over to Longshan Temple, which was incredible. This was yet another point when I really, really wished I had my camera. It was detailed and every surface was totally covered in decoration. Besides dragons and tigers and different buddhas, I saw what looked like a phoenix and asked Judy about it. She told me it was, you know, the thing...Harry Potter and the thing. So it was a phoenix which I just thought was interesting because I didn't know that there were phoenixes in Chinese mythology and I really like phoenixes. One or two people have told me I was like a phoenix and I thought that was just about the greatest compliment ever.
The temple closed and we walked over to the Huaxi Street Tourist Night Market. She had me try several different traditional foods, most were edible but not great. One interesting thing that was available at this market- though I didn't get to try it- was python. They ate regular ones, but most of the live ones displayed were albino, presumably because they look better.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Lost In the Wild
5/13
Packing up and moving so often (every other day on average, I think), I lose a lot of stuff. It's usually no big deal because it's an eyemask or a lipgloss or an umbrella or something else inconsequential or easily replaceable but today as I was packing up, I noticed that my camera case was empty and my camera was nowhere to be found. I asked at the Visitor's Center nearby if anyone had turned one in, and they said no and checked with the police who also said no. They wanted me to file a report but I told them I was sure I'd lost it, not had it stolen, so I just left my email and a description of the camera. There was nothing left to do about it so I called my Mom on Skype and told her that I thought I may have subconsciously lost it on purpose, as it was old and pretty crappy and I really did need an excuse for a new one. If it really is gone though, I'll have lost all my Tokyo and Taiwan pictures which would be a bit sad.
I sat at the corner by the bus stop, not knowing when it was coming, but aware that there were five daily. I walked over to the shops area and got a Taiwan sausage, which is basically a coarser pork bratwurst and ended up going back to get another, more because I was hungry and haven't eaten enough meat lately than because they were so fantastic. While over there, one of the people I'd seen yesterday said 2 and held up two fingers. Then the man making the sausage did the same. I told them I only wanted one, though I'd had one before- two total. The woman said "No. Hualien?" which is the name of the city I had to catch the bus to before getting the train to Taipei. I nodded and she told me the bus was coming at 2. It was just before 12:30 so I was glad to have this information, but sad that I couldn't write the image of myself I'd conjured while waiting: The girl sits on the corner, waiting alone for a bus that may never come. Oh wait, I did just write it, and no, it's not great, I just liked it- every once in a while I get a bit emo. Deal.
Knowing I had all this time, I decided to walk up the mountain to the temple nearby. Since I had no camera I couldn't take regular pictures, but I got a few with my phone, though of course, I don't have a cord so I can't download them anywhere.
I met a girl from Singapore, Julaina, who was there with her Mom and Grandmother. Her English was perfect and she told me about studying in Toronto and her backpacking trips through Europe. She also recommended couchsurfing and invited me to stay with her if I found myself back in Singapore. I know the idea of couchsurfing with strangers seems extremely suspect but this site has been around for quite some time now and they verify identities and I've heard nothing but positive feedback from several solo travelers, including many females so I'm planning on trying it in the near future.
The temple was nothing amazing, though the setting really is spectacular. The gorge is made of a river running through mountains that rise, often at a 90* angle, up to 3,000 feet. It's not a chasm, so the river flow is level to the basic ground level and the road is just a few hundred feet above it so the mountains block large swatches of the clouded over sky and holds the mist inside its cleavage.
The bus ride back down to Hualien showcases the gorge's dramatic scenery. It's quite amazing, but given the amount of rain pouring down everywhere I go (including here, at the time of descent) and cloud cover, I'm disappointed in the tiny cracks of waterfalls that drip down. One of the best sights is a temple built so that a waterfall rushes out beneath it, and this one, at least, has a decently strong stream.
Eventually the bus winds its way down to the flat area near the ocean, and on highways to the city where I catch the 4 p.m. train to Taipei with two minutes to spare.
Packing up and moving so often (every other day on average, I think), I lose a lot of stuff. It's usually no big deal because it's an eyemask or a lipgloss or an umbrella or something else inconsequential or easily replaceable but today as I was packing up, I noticed that my camera case was empty and my camera was nowhere to be found. I asked at the Visitor's Center nearby if anyone had turned one in, and they said no and checked with the police who also said no. They wanted me to file a report but I told them I was sure I'd lost it, not had it stolen, so I just left my email and a description of the camera. There was nothing left to do about it so I called my Mom on Skype and told her that I thought I may have subconsciously lost it on purpose, as it was old and pretty crappy and I really did need an excuse for a new one. If it really is gone though, I'll have lost all my Tokyo and Taiwan pictures which would be a bit sad.
I sat at the corner by the bus stop, not knowing when it was coming, but aware that there were five daily. I walked over to the shops area and got a Taiwan sausage, which is basically a coarser pork bratwurst and ended up going back to get another, more because I was hungry and haven't eaten enough meat lately than because they were so fantastic. While over there, one of the people I'd seen yesterday said 2 and held up two fingers. Then the man making the sausage did the same. I told them I only wanted one, though I'd had one before- two total. The woman said "No. Hualien?" which is the name of the city I had to catch the bus to before getting the train to Taipei. I nodded and she told me the bus was coming at 2. It was just before 12:30 so I was glad to have this information, but sad that I couldn't write the image of myself I'd conjured while waiting: The girl sits on the corner, waiting alone for a bus that may never come. Oh wait, I did just write it, and no, it's not great, I just liked it- every once in a while I get a bit emo. Deal.
Knowing I had all this time, I decided to walk up the mountain to the temple nearby. Since I had no camera I couldn't take regular pictures, but I got a few with my phone, though of course, I don't have a cord so I can't download them anywhere.
I met a girl from Singapore, Julaina, who was there with her Mom and Grandmother. Her English was perfect and she told me about studying in Toronto and her backpacking trips through Europe. She also recommended couchsurfing and invited me to stay with her if I found myself back in Singapore. I know the idea of couchsurfing with strangers seems extremely suspect but this site has been around for quite some time now and they verify identities and I've heard nothing but positive feedback from several solo travelers, including many females so I'm planning on trying it in the near future.
The temple was nothing amazing, though the setting really is spectacular. The gorge is made of a river running through mountains that rise, often at a 90* angle, up to 3,000 feet. It's not a chasm, so the river flow is level to the basic ground level and the road is just a few hundred feet above it so the mountains block large swatches of the clouded over sky and holds the mist inside its cleavage.
The bus ride back down to Hualien showcases the gorge's dramatic scenery. It's quite amazing, but given the amount of rain pouring down everywhere I go (including here, at the time of descent) and cloud cover, I'm disappointed in the tiny cracks of waterfalls that drip down. One of the best sights is a temple built so that a waterfall rushes out beneath it, and this one, at least, has a decently strong stream.
Eventually the bus winds its way down to the flat area near the ocean, and on highways to the city where I catch the 4 p.m. train to Taipei with two minutes to spare.
Beautiful Neon Explosion
5/5-
Though I got a slow start, I did actually do and see quite a bit today. I started by going to asakusa, an old temple, blah, blah, blah. It was no better than any other temple, even with a nice garden and vaguely interesting history. I spent some time in the area shopping for souvenirs to send home and found a cheap kimono for myself. There's some argument about kimonos. A truly traditional kimono that a geisha would wear, made of silk and embroidered, is wildly expensive and can get into the couture price range (tens of thousands of dollars) so many tourists set on getting a kimono of sorts, opt to buy a yukata which is kind of like a thin bathrobe geishas wear underneath a kimono. Even these are very expensive so many opt to buy them second-hand. Unfortunately, second hand stores selling kimonos and their accessories are very difficult to find. The kimono stores near tourist areas often sell some high end kimonos, but sell many more cheap ones to tourists or Japanese who wear them traditionally. Some people argue that these are not "real" kimonos, and while they are much, much poorer quality than the ones geisha wear, they are still kimonos and that was good enough for me and my slim wallet.
I found a blue-greenish one that was actually fairly plain, though it has a basic bamboo leaf pattern. It fit well, though it was a little long and I liked it emotionally more than I logically should have aesthetically. It was also my last day to possibly buy one and was the right price.
Taking the Tokyo Metro from one station to another should be simple. The stations and trains are fairly clean, there are Women Only cars for peak hours so you don't get molested by a chikan (yes, they have an actual word for subway sexual predators!) because you're so packed in, most signs are in Japanese and English and trains are reasonably fast Unfortunately, there are serious organizational problems that make stations illogical and transfers ridiculous. Amazingly, I never actually had too much trouble, but the system was so illogical and bizarre, I don't know how I didn't. My trip today emphasized that. On the map, Asakusa station is one a particular line, Asakusa. It stops at Bakuro-yokoyama station, where I could transfer to Shinjuku line to get to, Shinjuku. So I entered Asakusa station but didn't see a single sign for that line, despite seeing several for the Ginza line (though I did later find a very small single one, squashed in between other, useless information, that I'd missed). There was a man at an information desk I asked and he told me to leave this station to the street through a particular exit then follow the signs to Asakusa station Asakusa line. In other words, there were two unconnected Asakusa stations. It wasn't a long walk, but just shockingly unplanned. I got to the station, got a train to Bakuro-yokoyama, my transfer point and was again shocked at the confusing directions. To transfer to the other line, I again had to leave the station, go aboveground and walk. Again, it wasn't a long walk, just a few blocks, but there were turns so it wasn't just walk two blocks straight, and few signs, through a neighborhood that didn't feel unsafe exactly, but underpopulated- a place I wouldn't feel completely comfortable walking through at night. Like I said, I somehow managed all this without getting lost or confused, but I just thought it was an insane system. I took a picture of one of the signs to show the craziness, but lost the picture with my camera.
In the middle of the transfer, I stopped at a Yoshinoya, a Japanese fast-food place, for a beef bowl for dinner. Finally, I arrived at Shinjuku. Shinjuku is probably the area closest to the super busy Tokyo at night stereotype you imagine. It's just all neon lights and people and noise and it was wonderful. It was the sort of place where I think other people might feel overstimulated, but I felt like "Finally! A place I won't be bored!" There was also this area of three tiny alleyways nearby filled with tiny bars, most with only the bar and three or four stools before you ran into the wall. Many of them had vague themes and apparently many of them are so exclusive that you can't go in unless you're a regular (so how one becomes a regular in the first place, I don't know, maybe it's hereditary). Anyway, it was just really cool and dark and dingy and off and low-key and happy. I don't know, but I thought it was fantastic.
Though I got a slow start, I did actually do and see quite a bit today. I started by going to asakusa, an old temple, blah, blah, blah. It was no better than any other temple, even with a nice garden and vaguely interesting history. I spent some time in the area shopping for souvenirs to send home and found a cheap kimono for myself. There's some argument about kimonos. A truly traditional kimono that a geisha would wear, made of silk and embroidered, is wildly expensive and can get into the couture price range (tens of thousands of dollars) so many tourists set on getting a kimono of sorts, opt to buy a yukata which is kind of like a thin bathrobe geishas wear underneath a kimono. Even these are very expensive so many opt to buy them second-hand. Unfortunately, second hand stores selling kimonos and their accessories are very difficult to find. The kimono stores near tourist areas often sell some high end kimonos, but sell many more cheap ones to tourists or Japanese who wear them traditionally. Some people argue that these are not "real" kimonos, and while they are much, much poorer quality than the ones geisha wear, they are still kimonos and that was good enough for me and my slim wallet.
I found a blue-greenish one that was actually fairly plain, though it has a basic bamboo leaf pattern. It fit well, though it was a little long and I liked it emotionally more than I logically should have aesthetically. It was also my last day to possibly buy one and was the right price.
Taking the Tokyo Metro from one station to another should be simple. The stations and trains are fairly clean, there are Women Only cars for peak hours so you don't get molested by a chikan (yes, they have an actual word for subway sexual predators!) because you're so packed in, most signs are in Japanese and English and trains are reasonably fast Unfortunately, there are serious organizational problems that make stations illogical and transfers ridiculous. Amazingly, I never actually had too much trouble, but the system was so illogical and bizarre, I don't know how I didn't. My trip today emphasized that. On the map, Asakusa station is one a particular line, Asakusa. It stops at Bakuro-yokoyama station, where I could transfer to Shinjuku line to get to, Shinjuku. So I entered Asakusa station but didn't see a single sign for that line, despite seeing several for the Ginza line (though I did later find a very small single one, squashed in between other, useless information, that I'd missed). There was a man at an information desk I asked and he told me to leave this station to the street through a particular exit then follow the signs to Asakusa station Asakusa line. In other words, there were two unconnected Asakusa stations. It wasn't a long walk, but just shockingly unplanned. I got to the station, got a train to Bakuro-yokoyama, my transfer point and was again shocked at the confusing directions. To transfer to the other line, I again had to leave the station, go aboveground and walk. Again, it wasn't a long walk, just a few blocks, but there were turns so it wasn't just walk two blocks straight, and few signs, through a neighborhood that didn't feel unsafe exactly, but underpopulated- a place I wouldn't feel completely comfortable walking through at night. Like I said, I somehow managed all this without getting lost or confused, but I just thought it was an insane system. I took a picture of one of the signs to show the craziness, but lost the picture with my camera.
In the middle of the transfer, I stopped at a Yoshinoya, a Japanese fast-food place, for a beef bowl for dinner. Finally, I arrived at Shinjuku. Shinjuku is probably the area closest to the super busy Tokyo at night stereotype you imagine. It's just all neon lights and people and noise and it was wonderful. It was the sort of place where I think other people might feel overstimulated, but I felt like "Finally! A place I won't be bored!" There was also this area of three tiny alleyways nearby filled with tiny bars, most with only the bar and three or four stools before you ran into the wall. Many of them had vague themes and apparently many of them are so exclusive that you can't go in unless you're a regular (so how one becomes a regular in the first place, I don't know, maybe it's hereditary). Anyway, it was just really cool and dark and dingy and off and low-key and happy. I don't know, but I thought it was fantastic.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Pinwheels, Spinning in the Wind
4/27
Aomori doesn't have a lot to see and I'd already seen most of the things I was interested in last night so I slept in and took my time getting up and ready. I made an obligatory stop at their fish market (which I could smell- yay, except...ewww) and got some takeaway. I was eating it in a large plaza and kicking at pigeons simultaneous when I saw the largest crow I've ever seen. It was probably three times the size of a normal crow and was really intimidating. I felt like I could finally understand why Tippi Hendran would be afraid of them in "The Crows" as I made a plan for what to do if it attacked me (kick, mostly, and whack with my purse).
Since I still had lots of time, I shopped around a bit, walked a bit farther and got a cup of Haagen-Daaz cookies and cream ice cream (I was PMSing, or at least, used that as my excuse). Finally it was time to get on the bus to see the one thing I particularly wanted to see in, well, outside of, Aomori; Seiryu-ji.
Showa Daibutsu is the largest outdoor Buddha in Japan. The complex it's in, Seiryu-ji, also includes numerous statues and a temple and five storied pagoda (the tallest one North of Kyoto). Amazingly, they had a very detailed brochure (4 pages of explanation on computer paper stapled together) in English! Usually this would be nice, but full of basic, vaguely interesting information that you'd forget in an instant but this brochure had a diatribe discussing the problem of secularism, a decline in ethics and insincere Buddhist priests! It was funny, bizarre, unexpected and fascinating. Western Honshu is seen by many Japanese in the same way that many Americans see the deep south: as a deeply religious, outdated place full of agriculture and bigotry and lacking education and pretentiousness. This rant made me understand this stereotype a bit better and amused me because if I replaced just a few of the words and removed a sentence of two I could easily imagine a middle aged white woman saying it in a Southern accent. Below, I've typed the best part, using parentheses to show words I would replace to make it work.
"There is another big reason for building the Daibutsu. (church.) After World War II in Japan, (the United States,) religion was excluded from the education curriculum due to separation of state and religion. Is moraland emotional education capable without religion? The answer is obvious when we look at the current situation. We have witnessed a decline in ethics. Such miserable cases as parents who have killed their children and children who have killed their parents and indiscriminate murders have often been reported. In contrast to the poverty-stricken society after WWII, (during the Great Depression,) we now enjoy the benefits of a developed economy, high quality education and scientific culture, which enable us to lead a very convenient life. However, there has been a growing concern that moral degenerations is progressing year by year. Although our economy, education and culture have developed, if we don't cultivate richness of the mind, Japan (the United States) will be in ruins someday. Then, who takes care of the issue of the mind? Religious people do. However, many Japanese Buddhist priests (American Preachers) behave as if priests' mission were only to perform rituals like funerals and memorial services."
Weird, right?
The temple was nice, as was the pagoda, but the real reason I came was to see Jizo Bosatsu (Boddhisattva) and put a pinwheel on this hill. The pinwheels are left by parents for their children who have died. Since my mother couldn't be there, I bought a green one and left it as high as I could get on that hill to catch the breeze for Joseph.
I walked up to the Giant Buddha and inside the hall underneath where you could see part of the structure. There was one group of Japanese tourists who came through while I was there but for the most part I had the place to myself.
Walking away from Buddha, I ran into Ichigan Kannon, who grants you just one wish.
Then I passed this fearsome god, Fudo Myooh, who is actually supposed to be good because he slays your negative thoughts with his sword and lassos people back onto the path of righteousness.
Kobo-Daishi is the statue on the other side of this pond and the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Each of the plates around the pond holds sand from one of the 88 temples associated with the Shingon sect. According to my brochure, it would be "a great experience to follow the footsteps of Daishi by stepping on the plates one by one, chanting his honorific name (Nama Daishi Henjokongo)." I tried it and it was just okay, not great.
This part, outside the main complex, is Kobo-Daishi-do, and these are the cool things that were inside it.
My overnight train to Sapporo (included in my rail pass so I didn't have to pay extra or for a hostel one night!) didn't leave until 10 p.m. but since I had nothing to do, from 8 onwards, after going online at the free internet place and getting dinner: a small crab and cheese omelette that was awesome and remarkably cheap and fantastic calamari, I just sat in the train station and finished reading The Lady and the Unicorn. On the train, I brushed my teeth and curled up with my mini tempurpedic pillow, my microfiber towel as a blanket, and an Ambien, and shortly, I was out.
Buddha's Head, Watching You Over the Treetops
Aomori doesn't have a lot to see and I'd already seen most of the things I was interested in last night so I slept in and took my time getting up and ready. I made an obligatory stop at their fish market (which I could smell- yay, except...ewww) and got some takeaway. I was eating it in a large plaza and kicking at pigeons simultaneous when I saw the largest crow I've ever seen. It was probably three times the size of a normal crow and was really intimidating. I felt like I could finally understand why Tippi Hendran would be afraid of them in "The Crows" as I made a plan for what to do if it attacked me (kick, mostly, and whack with my purse).
Since I still had lots of time, I shopped around a bit, walked a bit farther and got a cup of Haagen-Daaz cookies and cream ice cream (I was PMSing, or at least, used that as my excuse). Finally it was time to get on the bus to see the one thing I particularly wanted to see in, well, outside of, Aomori; Seiryu-ji.
Showa Daibutsu is the largest outdoor Buddha in Japan. The complex it's in, Seiryu-ji, also includes numerous statues and a temple and five storied pagoda (the tallest one North of Kyoto). Amazingly, they had a very detailed brochure (4 pages of explanation on computer paper stapled together) in English! Usually this would be nice, but full of basic, vaguely interesting information that you'd forget in an instant but this brochure had a diatribe discussing the problem of secularism, a decline in ethics and insincere Buddhist priests! It was funny, bizarre, unexpected and fascinating. Western Honshu is seen by many Japanese in the same way that many Americans see the deep south: as a deeply religious, outdated place full of agriculture and bigotry and lacking education and pretentiousness. This rant made me understand this stereotype a bit better and amused me because if I replaced just a few of the words and removed a sentence of two I could easily imagine a middle aged white woman saying it in a Southern accent. Below, I've typed the best part, using parentheses to show words I would replace to make it work.
"There is another big reason for building the Daibutsu. (church.) After World War II in Japan, (the United States,) religion was excluded from the education curriculum due to separation of state and religion. Is moraland emotional education capable without religion? The answer is obvious when we look at the current situation. We have witnessed a decline in ethics. Such miserable cases as parents who have killed their children and children who have killed their parents and indiscriminate murders have often been reported. In contrast to the poverty-stricken society after WWII, (during the Great Depression,) we now enjoy the benefits of a developed economy, high quality education and scientific culture, which enable us to lead a very convenient life. However, there has been a growing concern that moral degenerations is progressing year by year. Although our economy, education and culture have developed, if we don't cultivate richness of the mind, Japan (the United States) will be in ruins someday. Then, who takes care of the issue of the mind? Religious people do. However, many Japanese Buddhist priests (American Preachers) behave as if priests' mission were only to perform rituals like funerals and memorial services."
Weird, right?
The temple was nice, as was the pagoda, but the real reason I came was to see Jizo Bosatsu (Boddhisattva) and put a pinwheel on this hill. The pinwheels are left by parents for their children who have died. Since my mother couldn't be there, I bought a green one and left it as high as I could get on that hill to catch the breeze for Joseph.
I walked up to the Giant Buddha and inside the hall underneath where you could see part of the structure. There was one group of Japanese tourists who came through while I was there but for the most part I had the place to myself.
Walking away from Buddha, I ran into Ichigan Kannon, who grants you just one wish.
Then I passed this fearsome god, Fudo Myooh, who is actually supposed to be good because he slays your negative thoughts with his sword and lassos people back onto the path of righteousness.
Kobo-Daishi is the statue on the other side of this pond and the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Each of the plates around the pond holds sand from one of the 88 temples associated with the Shingon sect. According to my brochure, it would be "a great experience to follow the footsteps of Daishi by stepping on the plates one by one, chanting his honorific name (Nama Daishi Henjokongo)." I tried it and it was just okay, not great.
This part, outside the main complex, is Kobo-Daishi-do, and these are the cool things that were inside it.
My overnight train to Sapporo (included in my rail pass so I didn't have to pay extra or for a hostel one night!) didn't leave until 10 p.m. but since I had nothing to do, from 8 onwards, after going online at the free internet place and getting dinner: a small crab and cheese omelette that was awesome and remarkably cheap and fantastic calamari, I just sat in the train station and finished reading The Lady and the Unicorn. On the train, I brushed my teeth and curled up with my mini tempurpedic pillow, my microfiber towel as a blanket, and an Ambien, and shortly, I was out.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Temples, Rock Gardens and Castles, Oh My!
4/24
As it would be my last in Kyoto, and I'd seen little of the important temples and exciting sights, today was a very busy, hardcore sightseeing day.
I started at about 10 a.m. and got a bus to Kinkaku-ji (Temple), which means Temple of the Golden Pavilion.
*Quick note here: -ji and -jo mean temple and castle, respectively, so saying Kinkaku-ji Temple is redundant and so from this point on, I won't write Temple after the name, but you'll be able to differentiate it from anything else because of the -ji ending.
From there, I walked over to Ryoan-ji, which is known for its famous Zen Rock Garden. It's supposed to inspire meditation but I just didn't get it.
Part of the gardens nearby however had some lovely cherry blossom trees though is a nice, quiet setting, though the petals were already snowing. I didn't know it at the time, but this was as close as I would come to my vision of cherry blossoms in Japan. Had the woman I'd asked at the hostel told me about it a few days earlier, I could've gone when it was perfect.
I left Ryoan-ji, bought an ice cream cone, as it was slightly warmer (maybe in the late-50s?) and caught a bus to the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Park. You can't go inside the palace itself, but you can walk around the park and see it from there, which is just what I did.
It was about two o'clock by this time and my ice cream had not been a very filling lunch, so on my way walking over to Nijo-jo, I stopped in at another Japanese fast food/diner place for a cheap meal. I was initially reluctant to go to Nijo-jo because of time constraints and the price but I'm so glad I did. The best part was inside, where you weren't allowed to take pictures, but many of the rooms had moveable panels of gorgeous, though simple, paintings of nature or animals floating in a gilded sky.
It also had lovely gardens and a foot thick iron/bronze? gate:
Inside the castle there was a wedding procession that was also interesting to see.
I took a bus to train station, where I took a picture, though I'd been there several times already, from which point I jumped on a train to Fushimi Inari Shrine, which was really impressive and different from anything I'd seen so far, and, after about half an hour, really repetitive.
I hiked up the mountain the shrine was embedded in and was quite happy to see the Japanese tourists were struggling and more out of shape than I was, even if that seems a bit mean, before coming to a clearing with a nice view of the city that looked terrible when I tried to photograph it.
I got a bit confused and was unsure if I was basically at the top or not, but decided I'd been going for long enough so headed downhill. I got lost in a maze of orange wood and pine trees. Apparently there were several different paths of shrines to traverse and I went the wrong way so somehow, I ended up lost in the woods in the middle of a fairly large city. I kept going down and checked my direction against the sun as I knew I had to go west to get back to the train station, but because of the paths available, I hiked much farther north than I'd intended. Eventually I found myself on some small residential roads and wandered west from them but still got nowhere. I saw a temple which I hoped was the base temple area of Fushimi Inari but I was on the wrong side so I just hopped a gate and walked toward the center, passing some monks on the way. I found the center of the temple, though by that time I'd realized it was not the right one, and walked out through the entrance. The English signs told me I'd been walking through Tofukuji, another of Kyoto's 200-plus. This was actually one of the famous ones I'd considered seeing and had now managed to do so without paying the entry fee! I was too tired to actually explore it, so I just snapped a few pictures and walked by to my hostel, which by this point was close enough, as I'd gone so far North.
I rested there for a long while, but had a bit more energy than expected so I went out to get some dinner, buy some supplies for the train ride the next day and see Toji, yet another temple I'd wanted to see (this one famous because it was the tallest pagoda in Japan). I couldn't go in the complex of course, as it was closed, but it happened to be quite lovely lit up at night as it was and I was very happy with my decisions for the day and the way it had turned out.
As it would be my last in Kyoto, and I'd seen little of the important temples and exciting sights, today was a very busy, hardcore sightseeing day.
I started at about 10 a.m. and got a bus to Kinkaku-ji (Temple), which means Temple of the Golden Pavilion.
*Quick note here: -ji and -jo mean temple and castle, respectively, so saying Kinkaku-ji Temple is redundant and so from this point on, I won't write Temple after the name, but you'll be able to differentiate it from anything else because of the -ji ending.
From there, I walked over to Ryoan-ji, which is known for its famous Zen Rock Garden. It's supposed to inspire meditation but I just didn't get it.
Part of the gardens nearby however had some lovely cherry blossom trees though is a nice, quiet setting, though the petals were already snowing. I didn't know it at the time, but this was as close as I would come to my vision of cherry blossoms in Japan. Had the woman I'd asked at the hostel told me about it a few days earlier, I could've gone when it was perfect.
I left Ryoan-ji, bought an ice cream cone, as it was slightly warmer (maybe in the late-50s?) and caught a bus to the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Park. You can't go inside the palace itself, but you can walk around the park and see it from there, which is just what I did.
It was about two o'clock by this time and my ice cream had not been a very filling lunch, so on my way walking over to Nijo-jo, I stopped in at another Japanese fast food/diner place for a cheap meal. I was initially reluctant to go to Nijo-jo because of time constraints and the price but I'm so glad I did. The best part was inside, where you weren't allowed to take pictures, but many of the rooms had moveable panels of gorgeous, though simple, paintings of nature or animals floating in a gilded sky.
It also had lovely gardens and a foot thick iron/bronze? gate:
Inside the castle there was a wedding procession that was also interesting to see.
I took a bus to train station, where I took a picture, though I'd been there several times already, from which point I jumped on a train to Fushimi Inari Shrine, which was really impressive and different from anything I'd seen so far, and, after about half an hour, really repetitive.
I hiked up the mountain the shrine was embedded in and was quite happy to see the Japanese tourists were struggling and more out of shape than I was, even if that seems a bit mean, before coming to a clearing with a nice view of the city that looked terrible when I tried to photograph it.
I got a bit confused and was unsure if I was basically at the top or not, but decided I'd been going for long enough so headed downhill. I got lost in a maze of orange wood and pine trees. Apparently there were several different paths of shrines to traverse and I went the wrong way so somehow, I ended up lost in the woods in the middle of a fairly large city. I kept going down and checked my direction against the sun as I knew I had to go west to get back to the train station, but because of the paths available, I hiked much farther north than I'd intended. Eventually I found myself on some small residential roads and wandered west from them but still got nowhere. I saw a temple which I hoped was the base temple area of Fushimi Inari but I was on the wrong side so I just hopped a gate and walked toward the center, passing some monks on the way. I found the center of the temple, though by that time I'd realized it was not the right one, and walked out through the entrance. The English signs told me I'd been walking through Tofukuji, another of Kyoto's 200-plus. This was actually one of the famous ones I'd considered seeing and had now managed to do so without paying the entry fee! I was too tired to actually explore it, so I just snapped a few pictures and walked by to my hostel, which by this point was close enough, as I'd gone so far North.
I rested there for a long while, but had a bit more energy than expected so I went out to get some dinner, buy some supplies for the train ride the next day and see Toji, yet another temple I'd wanted to see (this one famous because it was the tallest pagoda in Japan). I couldn't go in the complex of course, as it was closed, but it happened to be quite lovely lit up at night as it was and I was very happy with my decisions for the day and the way it had turned out.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
GEISHA! GEISHA! GEISHA!
4/23
While it wasn't exactly a gorgeous day out, it at least wasn't raining today, so I hopped on a train to Nara, a village close to Kyoto that was the first capital of Japan and thus has several lovely old sights. I think it's possible that the reason these sights survived the war was because they were located in such a small town that it didn't seem worth bombing, but that's pure conjecture.
Nara is what I call an ooh-ahh-out place. Awesome, incredible and absolutely worth your time, but only as a daytrip as can be seen in a few hours, maximum. One of the best examples of ooh-ahh-outs is Pisa, if that helps give you a better idea of what I'm talking about.
First was Kofuku-ji, a fairly large temple complex area, with three and five storied pagodas.
Then through the Nandaimon Gate, guarded by two giant statues, even though they look like paintings behind the nets:
All the people you see in yellow hats are Japanese schoolchildren, here on field trips. A group of them from Osaka, in elementary school and brown hats, came up to me for help on a project and asked me my name, where I was from, if I'd seen Todai-ji and what I thought the most surprising thing about Japan was. They were cute but didn't seem overly excited at my response to the last question: the cold.
To the largest wooden building in the world, Todai-ji:
Which contains a giant gold/bronze alloy Buddha:
It also has a supporting beam with a hole in it the size of one of Buddha's nostrils that people try to crawl through for good luck:
Deer Warnings:
For my last stop in Nara, I'd planned on going to the Isuien Garden but it cost something like $6 but, if you knew about it, you could go to a teahouse next door that overlooked it, from which point you could see everything and just buy something there. I got the cheapest thing on the menu; Japanese tea (matcha green tea) and dry candies. The tea was horrible- shockingly bitter, and the candies, as far as I could tell, were just balls of powdered sugar, so were too sweet, but the view was lovely, even if these idiots are blocking part of it in my picture:
I got back to Kyoto and still had lots of energy so I decided that since it was a Friday afternoon, it would be a good time to go geisha hunting in Gion, the traditional geisha part of Kyoto, which is especially famous for its geisha.
It was a great area and I really enjoyed walking around it and seeing all the narrow streets and alleyways and old buildings (or, more likely, old-looking ones) but after about two hours, I still hadn't seen any geisha in full costume, so I gave up in defeat and ran after these girls to get a picture, hoping they were maiko, apprentice geisha. It's highly unlikely that they were, and were probably just wearing kimonos because they'd been to a special temple or something that day. Kimono are worn here traditionally and/or ceremonially, so when you see older women wearing kimono, it doesn't necessarily mean anything except that that's what they're comfortable in, but when you see young women wearing one, it's a bit more meaningful and means they might have visited a temple or sacred sight that day. Also, the pink kimono was the prettiest one I saw in all my time in Japan.
Defeated, I still continued to walk around a bit, just wandering, looking more at the architecture and enjoying the lack of rain (though it was still a bit cold), when suddenly, out of a random doorway, a geisha appeared.
I don't think I can explain to you how excited I was; it was like seeing a unicorn. It made me wildly happy and I had to try to contain my giddiness as I asked her for a picture. She obliged, and I continued walking, fully satisfied.
Suddenly, again appearing out of nowhere, another geisha, looking almost identical to the previous one, came rushing out of a doorway. I caught her as she rushed away, and then got her to stop for a moment for a picture on her slower way back.
I couldn't believe it- I'd spent almost two hours looking for geisha without success and then had seen two in three minutes! About two minutes later, a third geisha ran by me. Three geisha in five minutes. I was floating on air.
For dinner, I found a cheap Japanese fast-food/diner style place where I got a large bowl of rice topped with sauteed onions and very thin and relatively fatty strips of beef, accompanied by a small bowl of soup and cold tea for about $4-5. It was really good, and the onion/beef mixture reminded me of French cooking flavors in a favorable way.
While it wasn't exactly a gorgeous day out, it at least wasn't raining today, so I hopped on a train to Nara, a village close to Kyoto that was the first capital of Japan and thus has several lovely old sights. I think it's possible that the reason these sights survived the war was because they were located in such a small town that it didn't seem worth bombing, but that's pure conjecture.
Nara is what I call an ooh-ahh-out place. Awesome, incredible and absolutely worth your time, but only as a daytrip as can be seen in a few hours, maximum. One of the best examples of ooh-ahh-outs is Pisa, if that helps give you a better idea of what I'm talking about.
First was Kofuku-ji, a fairly large temple complex area, with three and five storied pagodas.
Then through the Nandaimon Gate, guarded by two giant statues, even though they look like paintings behind the nets:
All the people you see in yellow hats are Japanese schoolchildren, here on field trips. A group of them from Osaka, in elementary school and brown hats, came up to me for help on a project and asked me my name, where I was from, if I'd seen Todai-ji and what I thought the most surprising thing about Japan was. They were cute but didn't seem overly excited at my response to the last question: the cold.
To the largest wooden building in the world, Todai-ji:
Which contains a giant gold/bronze alloy Buddha:
It also has a supporting beam with a hole in it the size of one of Buddha's nostrils that people try to crawl through for good luck:
Deer Warnings:
For my last stop in Nara, I'd planned on going to the Isuien Garden but it cost something like $6 but, if you knew about it, you could go to a teahouse next door that overlooked it, from which point you could see everything and just buy something there. I got the cheapest thing on the menu; Japanese tea (matcha green tea) and dry candies. The tea was horrible- shockingly bitter, and the candies, as far as I could tell, were just balls of powdered sugar, so were too sweet, but the view was lovely, even if these idiots are blocking part of it in my picture:
I got back to Kyoto and still had lots of energy so I decided that since it was a Friday afternoon, it would be a good time to go geisha hunting in Gion, the traditional geisha part of Kyoto, which is especially famous for its geisha.
It was a great area and I really enjoyed walking around it and seeing all the narrow streets and alleyways and old buildings (or, more likely, old-looking ones) but after about two hours, I still hadn't seen any geisha in full costume, so I gave up in defeat and ran after these girls to get a picture, hoping they were maiko, apprentice geisha. It's highly unlikely that they were, and were probably just wearing kimonos because they'd been to a special temple or something that day. Kimono are worn here traditionally and/or ceremonially, so when you see older women wearing kimono, it doesn't necessarily mean anything except that that's what they're comfortable in, but when you see young women wearing one, it's a bit more meaningful and means they might have visited a temple or sacred sight that day. Also, the pink kimono was the prettiest one I saw in all my time in Japan.
Defeated, I still continued to walk around a bit, just wandering, looking more at the architecture and enjoying the lack of rain (though it was still a bit cold), when suddenly, out of a random doorway, a geisha appeared.
I don't think I can explain to you how excited I was; it was like seeing a unicorn. It made me wildly happy and I had to try to contain my giddiness as I asked her for a picture. She obliged, and I continued walking, fully satisfied.
Suddenly, again appearing out of nowhere, another geisha, looking almost identical to the previous one, came rushing out of a doorway. I caught her as she rushed away, and then got her to stop for a moment for a picture on her slower way back.
I couldn't believe it- I'd spent almost two hours looking for geisha without success and then had seen two in three minutes! About two minutes later, a third geisha ran by me. Three geisha in five minutes. I was floating on air.
For dinner, I found a cheap Japanese fast-food/diner style place where I got a large bowl of rice topped with sauteed onions and very thin and relatively fatty strips of beef, accompanied by a small bowl of soup and cold tea for about $4-5. It was really good, and the onion/beef mixture reminded me of French cooking flavors in a favorable way.
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