By Layla
The journey to Heathrow Airport was a momentous one. Not just the glorious prospect of a much-needed three week delicious holiday. Not just that we were going to the rather thrilling destination of Japan. But that after our holiday ends, we won't be getting back on the plane, but instead moving into a flat in Tokyo, our imminent hometown for the next several years. No pressure, Japan holiday...
The horribly long flight was rendered charming by the treat of flying business class and getting to sleep properly (after toasting our Japanese future with a glass of champagne of course). And soon enough we were in Tokyo. Or the airport anyway, showering in a capsule hotel! Everything was beautifully neat and clean and not that terrifying - yet. We picked up our rail passes with no problems and resolved that for the next three weeks we would resolutely be tourists. And so, showered and rail passes in hand, we boarded the train into Tokyo - and straight out again! We'd decided to leave Tokyo for last, and make our first stop Kyoto. That meant our first bullet train (a bit like a British train), our first bento box (packed lunch - lots of gelatinous items in different shapes and colours plus some tasty pickles) and our first speedy glimpses of Japan (eeek).
It took a while to find our AirBnB apartment in Kyoto, in the heart of Gion, a geisha district with umpteen pretty temples and shrines - in fact we had to walk through a shrine to get to our flat! Which turned out to be quiet, spacious, attractive, and just the thing for two jet lagged girls. Still, undeterred by time confusion, we headed out to walk through ridiculously quaint cobbled type streets lit by paper lanterns and flanked by illuminated temples, with many women adorned in kimonos. Our seven months of Japanese language study was almost vindicated when upon our hunt for a particular restaurant, we identified its name in Japanese characters! It was like we were in a massive game where everything was in code and we'd just decoded the first answer. We sat down to an extravagant vegetarian multi-course meal to celebrate, and finished the evening with a triumphant sake in a cool little cocktail bar with amazing ice globes instead of cubes. A triumphant first day.
Both of us were awake at silly hours (and eating Roses chocolates at 4am) and cursing jetlag. But we had managed a fair amount of sleep and soon we were off on a short train to Arashiyama. This area is famous for its temples, its bamboo forest and its 'romantic railway'. And we were ready to indulge in all three! We strolled along the paths through long, thin, extremely tall bamboo stalks, through a park, and into a hipster coffeeshop, before having a hilarious multi-course vegan lunch on tatami mats in a fancy temple. As you do... Afterwards we strolled through the beautiful, ancient temple gardens and lamented for the first of a billion times that we have slightly mistimed our trip to miss the blooming of the cherry blossoms, a highlight of the year for Japanese people... We then headed to the romantic railway, which we had assumed would be something silly but it turned out to be extremely popular with about a thousand different branded souvenirs on sale. A country who gets as excited as we do about a romantic railway? Maybe we were home after all...
The railway wound through hills and along a beautiful river (lined by naked cherry blossom trees) while a man in an alarming kabuki mask discussed the Scottish referendum with us - unexpected... Afterwards we returned to Kyoto and headed to the more modern downtown area for coffee and cake in a hipster coffeeshop called Hello Bibliotheque. It was suitably pretentious and we felt rather relieved that we would be consuming things other than gelatinous squares while in Japan. Though I was disturbed to see a woman eating what appeared to be dessert spaghetti... Afterwards we headed to a fancy tofu restaurant to meet Tomomi, the girl I stayed with while in Tokyo aged 19 long long ago. We had a fun dinner and chat and lots of delicious tofu (and acquired a name for the gelatinous items in all our meals: fuu). It was quite surreal to be meeting someone I know for dinner as though we were all in a perfectly unalarming place!
We were delighted to be on a bike tour first thing the following day. As well as stretching our bike legs (in anticipation of major demands next week...), he took us down ridiculously scenic backstreets, along canals, past notable temples and Kyoto's Imperial Palace, along the river, and fed us special mochi sweets wrapped in cherry tree leaves or some such from a tiny factory shop that had a huge queue despite seeming to be in the middle of nowhere. We spent the afternoon having a delicious Western-style lunch, strolling around the downtown area, and marvelling over the cost of various fruit and vegetables in a department store. The best we found was an £80 melon. We finished off with more cake (well, for me) at Cafe Independants, apparently the most hippy-ish cafe in Kyoto, in a bohemian art deco building.
That night, en route along a scenic canal to a hip Japanese izakaya (bar with food) our attention was fatally captured by a restaurant called Avocado. Our cravings for Mexican food reared and we had a fun dinner, with only a few odd things (like my sort-of-misguided ordering of avocado-flavoured frozen cream cheese starter). Afterwards we started hunting for a nice bar but got diverted by Round One: a huge bowling alley.
I have a weakness for bowling. But my Japanese skills were stretched as I tried to order appropriately. Soon though we were successfully allocated a lane, learned our Japanese shoe sizes, and received them by pressing a button like a vending machine - startling! Hard to say whether I more enjoyed winning extravagantly with my highest ever score (128!) or dressing up as a lady skittle, complete with little Scottish kilt with panties flashing... This is exactly what I'd ever hoped of Japanese bowling! Great fun.
The following day was time for our first hike. We took a hilarious tiny train with window-facing seats into the mountains surrounding Kyoto for a really delightful, picturesque little hike across the mountains from Kurama to Kibune. A bit steep at times, but totally charming, with towering trees and lots of temples and shrines. Afterwards I skillfully negotiated a couple of bowls of vegetarian ramen from a local restaurant before heading back into Kyoto.
We got off the train at the river and did a half hour stroll, at one point hilariously crossing the river using stones for the purpose that had been placed precariously far apart. We enjoyed people using the riverside park to practice complex group dances, juggling, Tai Chi, and then veered to Hello Bibliotheque for coffee and cake and a dose of pretentious hipster vibes. Fabulous!
Dinner last night was Nepalese, in a sweet little restaurant that sated our paneer cravings, and we followed it up with drinks (Roz) and dessert (me) in a cool bookshop/music shop/bar where I couldn't resist ordering the spaghetti dessert thing. Thankfully (though also disappointingly) it turned out to be a perfectly tasty ice-cream-ish dessert.
This morning it was time for another daytrip: to Nara! Known for its park, temples and deer, this ancient Japan capital has always been on our to-see list. And it was quite good. We had a tasty lunch in a nice coffeeshop, then strolled through the touristy throngs to admire various impressive temples, and of course the umpteen deer which, as promised, do indeed appear to bow when you give them food. Very Japanese! We spent a lovely half hour lying in the sun reading our books by a charming pond, and an even more charming five minutes demolishing some excellent ice cream. Then we went on a big walk through the park and down sidestreets and my plan to visit the museum of mechanical toys was foiled by it being closed today: humph! So it was back on the train, from where I am typing this epistle, and we'll soon be home to Kyoto.
The journey to Heathrow Airport was a momentous one. Not just the glorious prospect of a much-needed three week delicious holiday. Not just that we were going to the rather thrilling destination of Japan. But that after our holiday ends, we won't be getting back on the plane, but instead moving into a flat in Tokyo, our imminent hometown for the next several years. No pressure, Japan holiday...
The horribly long flight was rendered charming by the treat of flying business class and getting to sleep properly (after toasting our Japanese future with a glass of champagne of course). And soon enough we were in Tokyo. Or the airport anyway, showering in a capsule hotel! Everything was beautifully neat and clean and not that terrifying - yet. We picked up our rail passes with no problems and resolved that for the next three weeks we would resolutely be tourists. And so, showered and rail passes in hand, we boarded the train into Tokyo - and straight out again! We'd decided to leave Tokyo for last, and make our first stop Kyoto. That meant our first bullet train (a bit like a British train), our first bento box (packed lunch - lots of gelatinous items in different shapes and colours plus some tasty pickles) and our first speedy glimpses of Japan (eeek).
It took a while to find our AirBnB apartment in Kyoto, in the heart of Gion, a geisha district with umpteen pretty temples and shrines - in fact we had to walk through a shrine to get to our flat! Which turned out to be quiet, spacious, attractive, and just the thing for two jet lagged girls. Still, undeterred by time confusion, we headed out to walk through ridiculously quaint cobbled type streets lit by paper lanterns and flanked by illuminated temples, with many women adorned in kimonos. Our seven months of Japanese language study was almost vindicated when upon our hunt for a particular restaurant, we identified its name in Japanese characters! It was like we were in a massive game where everything was in code and we'd just decoded the first answer. We sat down to an extravagant vegetarian multi-course meal to celebrate, and finished the evening with a triumphant sake in a cool little cocktail bar with amazing ice globes instead of cubes. A triumphant first day.
Both of us were awake at silly hours (and eating Roses chocolates at 4am) and cursing jetlag. But we had managed a fair amount of sleep and soon we were off on a short train to Arashiyama. This area is famous for its temples, its bamboo forest and its 'romantic railway'. And we were ready to indulge in all three! We strolled along the paths through long, thin, extremely tall bamboo stalks, through a park, and into a hipster coffeeshop, before having a hilarious multi-course vegan lunch on tatami mats in a fancy temple. As you do... Afterwards we strolled through the beautiful, ancient temple gardens and lamented for the first of a billion times that we have slightly mistimed our trip to miss the blooming of the cherry blossoms, a highlight of the year for Japanese people... We then headed to the romantic railway, which we had assumed would be something silly but it turned out to be extremely popular with about a thousand different branded souvenirs on sale. A country who gets as excited as we do about a romantic railway? Maybe we were home after all...
The railway wound through hills and along a beautiful river (lined by naked cherry blossom trees) while a man in an alarming kabuki mask discussed the Scottish referendum with us - unexpected... Afterwards we returned to Kyoto and headed to the more modern downtown area for coffee and cake in a hipster coffeeshop called Hello Bibliotheque. It was suitably pretentious and we felt rather relieved that we would be consuming things other than gelatinous squares while in Japan. Though I was disturbed to see a woman eating what appeared to be dessert spaghetti... Afterwards we headed to a fancy tofu restaurant to meet Tomomi, the girl I stayed with while in Tokyo aged 19 long long ago. We had a fun dinner and chat and lots of delicious tofu (and acquired a name for the gelatinous items in all our meals: fuu). It was quite surreal to be meeting someone I know for dinner as though we were all in a perfectly unalarming place!
We were delighted to be on a bike tour first thing the following day. As well as stretching our bike legs (in anticipation of major demands next week...), he took us down ridiculously scenic backstreets, along canals, past notable temples and Kyoto's Imperial Palace, along the river, and fed us special mochi sweets wrapped in cherry tree leaves or some such from a tiny factory shop that had a huge queue despite seeming to be in the middle of nowhere. We spent the afternoon having a delicious Western-style lunch, strolling around the downtown area, and marvelling over the cost of various fruit and vegetables in a department store. The best we found was an £80 melon. We finished off with more cake (well, for me) at Cafe Independants, apparently the most hippy-ish cafe in Kyoto, in a bohemian art deco building.
That night, en route along a scenic canal to a hip Japanese izakaya (bar with food) our attention was fatally captured by a restaurant called Avocado. Our cravings for Mexican food reared and we had a fun dinner, with only a few odd things (like my sort-of-misguided ordering of avocado-flavoured frozen cream cheese starter). Afterwards we started hunting for a nice bar but got diverted by Round One: a huge bowling alley.
I have a weakness for bowling. But my Japanese skills were stretched as I tried to order appropriately. Soon though we were successfully allocated a lane, learned our Japanese shoe sizes, and received them by pressing a button like a vending machine - startling! Hard to say whether I more enjoyed winning extravagantly with my highest ever score (128!) or dressing up as a lady skittle, complete with little Scottish kilt with panties flashing... This is exactly what I'd ever hoped of Japanese bowling! Great fun.
The following day was time for our first hike. We took a hilarious tiny train with window-facing seats into the mountains surrounding Kyoto for a really delightful, picturesque little hike across the mountains from Kurama to Kibune. A bit steep at times, but totally charming, with towering trees and lots of temples and shrines. Afterwards I skillfully negotiated a couple of bowls of vegetarian ramen from a local restaurant before heading back into Kyoto.
We got off the train at the river and did a half hour stroll, at one point hilariously crossing the river using stones for the purpose that had been placed precariously far apart. We enjoyed people using the riverside park to practice complex group dances, juggling, Tai Chi, and then veered to Hello Bibliotheque for coffee and cake and a dose of pretentious hipster vibes. Fabulous!
Dinner last night was Nepalese, in a sweet little restaurant that sated our paneer cravings, and we followed it up with drinks (Roz) and dessert (me) in a cool bookshop/music shop/bar where I couldn't resist ordering the spaghetti dessert thing. Thankfully (though also disappointingly) it turned out to be a perfectly tasty ice-cream-ish dessert.
This morning it was time for another daytrip: to Nara! Known for its park, temples and deer, this ancient Japan capital has always been on our to-see list. And it was quite good. We had a tasty lunch in a nice coffeeshop, then strolled through the touristy throngs to admire various impressive temples, and of course the umpteen deer which, as promised, do indeed appear to bow when you give them food. Very Japanese! We spent a lovely half hour lying in the sun reading our books by a charming pond, and an even more charming five minutes demolishing some excellent ice cream. Then we went on a big walk through the park and down sidestreets and my plan to visit the museum of mechanical toys was foiled by it being closed today: humph! So it was back on the train, from where I am typing this epistle, and we'll soon be home to Kyoto.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.