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Published: April 28th 2010
The market
An imaculate place. So clean that the 5 second rule with dropping food probably works here.Plans change a lot, and I am always the last one to know what is going on. Today was meant to be a short and quiet is day. Was it really like that, like heck it was. We were out all day, not that that is a problem, but I would like to know the plans of the day so I can mentally prepare myself for the task ahead. In other words I like to have a battle plan.
Today’s programme was a mixed one. It started out with a walk to the local food market -oh goodie. HB was not happy about going to another market; I think she had been traumatised by the fish market in Vietnam. Well she needn’t have been worried; I don’t think that I have seen a market that was so clean. This place was spotless. Even with all the fish that was around, and trust me there was a ship load of fish, there was no odour at all. HB still wasn’t happy to be there, even though it was clean - Disney it was not. This is a recurring theme, when HB is out with me or having to stand by me
Mmm fish
Dont they just look dangerous when we are all out together she is a different child. She listens, she doesn’t fuss and she doesn’t argue back or demand. If you put her mother into the equations then it is like HB is a whole different child. She doesn’t listen to a word I say, she whines something dreadful, and the way she talks to people is frightful. If you have ever read or seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory then she would be the spoilt one whose name escapes me. See this is why I have a battle plan. Well as soon as we entered the Nitsuki Market the whining began. I want to go now! Mummy, now! Complete with stamping foot and hands on her hips (if she puts her hands on her hips now I laugh and call her a chicken, then make her face into a chicken face - it normally makes her laugh, and as you all know if is very hard to be cross when you are laughing). So in a swoop and take her away, and tell her she has to hold my hand - she didn’t like that. It is now a rule that when we go out
No idea
Can't remember what that was she has to stay with me. Thankfully we were saved by someone who stopped Mr G in the street to ask him some questions, seems you can’t escape them where ever you are. Mr G was, hmmm less than pleased shall we say? However, looks can be deceiving. This man was none other than Duff who had organised this part of the trip for us. He came equipped with a scavenger hunt for F and HB to do. F did his, but I did HBs for her. It was doing things like saying good morning in Japanese to a shop keeper, buying a mid morning snack for your parents. It was pretty fun to do, and at least it made the market a little more interesting for HB.
The whole point of this trip to the market was to meet a man! Oooh, exciting. Not really. He was a chef of a small restaurant, like the one we went in for lunch the previous day, room for about 10 people. The chef had a Mitchin Star, apparently, and could have worked in some of the best restaurants in Japan, but he wanted a quieter life. His restaurant was somewhere
in one of the more traditional districts surrounding Kyoto, it wasn’t Gion as that has become too touristy. No, this was a quiet place, which Kyoto would have looked like 80 odd years ago. The Trufflepiglet (which is small book that we get for each country with tells us our itinerary and the such) said that we were having a cooking lesson, more like a cooking demonstration. He prepared the dishes, telling F how to make it, then once cooked (or more often the case not cooked) he gave it to us to eat. Again most of the foods were items that didn’t really appeal to me like Sea Urchin - yum. My stomach was feeling a little queasy from last night’s feast, and having Sea Urchin and Octopus put in front of me was making my stomach flip. I was happy colouring with HB. It was fascinating to watch him work - he could peel a carrot so that it was one very long and thin piece. Then when he chopped the vegetables into slices they were all a few mm thick and completely uniform - it was impressive to see.
At the end of the demonstration we
had a visit from a Meiko! A Meiko is a Geisha in training before she becomes a full qualified Geiko. Great names huh? She was exactly what I thought a Geisha would be like. She was ornately made up with more hair grips than Claires (that’s a girl’s shop that sells hair maradardies (sparkly trinkety things). We had a bit of a Q&A session with her, with Motoi translating for us. She had been training for 5 years, and would become a Geiko in a month. At which time she would have to buy all her Kimonos’ herself. While training the Okaya where she lives provides them for her. They still have a Danna (a Patron) but due to today’s economic climate they were a little hard to come by. It takes about an hour to get her hair ready and then she has to have it in that style for a week! As her hair is so elaborate she has to sleep using a special pillow that only supports her neck. It is exactly like how it is in the movie. The make up only takes about 20 mins in comparison to do. The difference between a Meiko and
Meiko
She has very high platform flip flops on Geiko is that the Geiko wears a wig instead of having to do her hair. The Meiko only has a small wig to help make her hair stand up and look fuller. The Meiko also has a much longer obi, which is the part that goes round the middle of the Kimonos. Our Meiko performed 2 dances for us. They were very different, but very beautifully done. The style of dancing doesn’t involve them moving too far or using her feet too much. It is all done with the hands and using props like a fan or her Kimonos. A very interesting style of dancing - not one that I would pay money to go and see though.
Once all the dancing and taking photos were over we had a walk altogether to the school where she learns the art of her trade. Now before you make any judgements about what a Geisha is, they are not prostitutes, which is what they are commonly thought of in western countries. That they most certainly are not. They are artists - dancers and musicians. Yes they had the Dannas and sure they slept with them back in the day - but
the Geisha was more of a mistress than anything. If you want to read something on what Geishas are read Geisha by Liza Dalby the only westerner to become a Geisha. That really goes into all the details about their history and what they are. Anyhoo, even when she is fully qualified she will have to attend school, in fact she will attend school all her life to become a true expert in the areas of dance, the tea ceremony, music, flower arranging, and the art of conversations!
It was then time to move on to the next sight to see. The Geisha stayed with us right up until the cars had driven out of sight. That is tradition in Japan, to see your guests off until they are out of view. We always made very hasty get always to save them from waiting too long. The next place was to a Kimono maker’s house. Again apparently he is very famous. Their house was lovely, but bloody cold - I don’t think they had the heating on, and the paper walls don’t do much to keep the heat in. The experience was a bit dull, HB and I were
The Kimono
It tells a story in itself about the different seasons totally ignored - which is fine, but I had nothing to keep her attention with. So she took to doing her usually skipping/walking round the room playing with every little thing. That is never a good idea when you are in a house where everything is a work or art and priceless. I put a stop to that. HB has a habit of getting so carried away in what she is doing that she tends to break things - a lot. She will play with anything and throw it around, then it normally breaks and she cries and then her mum tells her it is fine, they can buy a new one. When in fact she needs to be taught not everything is a play thing, that she needs to look after what she is using, and no not everything can be replaced if you break it - especially when I have told her 10 times to be careful with it. HB was a little grumpy after I put a stop to her running around and tugging on the Kimonos that Mr and Mrs G were trying on. You may think I am mean but these Kimonos took 2 years
to make, and I won’t have them broken by a spoiled 5 year old. We finished the trip of with a very yummy Sunday. Mine was more like a trifle in a tall glass - it was yummy all the same, and a very welcomed break from the Japanese food we had been given before.
On our way back home, we had a stop of in a ballet shop we had seen on our way to the market. That was like heaven to me. I loved it. I won’t say how much a spent in there, but it was ridiculously expensive. Much more than what I would have paid in the UK. I dread to think how much a pair of Pointe shoes would cost. We also stopped off to get some bread and salami for HB for her dinner. It was late by this time and everyone still needed to eat. It was however too late for HB to go out for dinner, that would have resulted in a major melt down. We were subsequently dropped off at the hotel. While everyone else went out for dinner. I have bed times down to an art and HB was
feed, showered and in bed in a reasonable amount of time. This left me with little to do, and little light to do it in. Why didn’t I write a blog? Well I had to write my own diary first, and that is very time consuming.
So I bid you all a good night, until the next time.
To be Continued ...
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