Sign In
Blogs from Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, Asia - page 7
Advertisement
April 3rd 2011
The young girl pushing the coffee trolley was on the Shinkansen I was taking to Himeji, a city about 100 km west of Kyoto. I asked for my 300 yen coffee, and watched bewitched the ritual with all the smiles and bows as she delicately placed my coffee and little plastic pot of cream on the tray beside me. Young Japanese female staff have a very high pitched sing song voice for such rituals – in normal conversation the pitch of Japanese women is very similar to that of British women. It’s all quite different from the British equivalent which is quite matey, where your coffee is plonked down beside you with some dry witty remark as they pour it over you. Once in Himeji I went to the Tourist Information Office at the station and ... read more
April 2nd 2011
My alarm broke me out of my sleep. I was early enough today to go downstairs for breakfast. The lady who checked me in – possibly the ryokan owner – was there, together with another lady and a little boy. The ryokan owner handed me the menu, whereupon I said, ‘megane’ (glasses), struggling to find my glasses in my bag. Both ladies laughed – they were both wearing ‘megane’. I ordered my breakfast – orange juice, coffee and toast, in Japanese ‘orenji jusu, kohi to tosuto’. The Japanese have borrowed many European words recently, particularly from English, although I’m not sure which European word ‘kohi’ comes from. A traditional Japanese breakfast consists of rice, miso soup and fish. We have only once stayed in a ryokan which served exclusively a Japanese breakfast. It was in 1995 ... read more
April 1st 2011
I gradually became aware of the sun shining through the shoji (paper screen window) of my room. I checked my alarm clock and saw it was 10 o' clock. So much for a reasonably early start - I'd forgotten to set my alarm. Still I'd had an excellent night's sleep on my futon. I'm staying in a ryokan, so the room has a tatami mat floor and a futon to sleep on. It also has its own bathroom - a typical one for many Japanese hotels. It comes as one complete unit out of plastic, and fits in everything, including a short, deep bath that you can sit or shower in, inside an extremely small and efficient space. During the day you fold your futon into three, which makes the room feel spacious as a living ... read more
March 22nd 2011
Alright y'all! So this is gonna be my last entry for the blog, as im back home now.., thats ok let the tears flow, your only human afterall. ya might wanna grab a tissue. So i eventually plucked-up the courage to leave yasato farm on the 16th of february. I dont like good-byes, and when your travelling you have lots of em and they don't got any easier. But this one was particularly difficult because the folks at yasato are wonderful, i felt right at home, it was like family. Also i had been there for two and a half months, making it the place where i stayed the longest (by far) on this trip. I would have stayed there until the end but i also wanted to see another part of Japan before leaving, seen ... read more
February 5th 2011
Destination: Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture (Distance from Tokyo: 470km, approximately 294 miles) Map → http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/kyoto/index.html Date: December, 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enjoying the nature of Kyoto. The best season to visit Kyoto is, as I mentioned before, in spring or fall because of the mild weather conditions. But the main reason can be something else. It is, for me and I believe for many people as well, the beauty of cherry blossoms and fall foliage. The city of Kyoto is basically clean everywhere. In Kyoto, the frequency you come across the typical dirtiness of big cities is less than in other big cities. Even the Shijo-Kawaramachi district where the local people usually flock in for shopping... read more
Advertisement
February 1st 2011
Destination: Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture (Distance from Tokyo: 470km, approximately 294 miles) Map → http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/kyoto/index.html Date: November, 2009 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kyoto is famous as a city of basin-shaped valley. It’s surrounded by the hills. Because of its confined environment, the city is hard to get fresh air from the outside over the hills. That makes Kyoto infamous for the sever weather. Very hot and sticky in the summer and f@#%ing freezing in the winter. So if you want to make your trip enjoyable there, spring or fall is preferable to visit. The size of Kyoto city is said 827.90km² and it formulates a rectangle shape with the long north - south vertical line and short east – west horizontal one. You can bike around the whole city except some steep h... read more
Japan Travels Part 5 - Kyoto, Hiroshima and Fukuoka
Published: February 5th 2011Asia » Japan » Kyoto » Kyoto » Gion
February 1st 2011
Dear Blog Readers, Here is the fifth and final part of our Japan travel blogs. This one is dedicated to Kyoto, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. If you haven't done so already, check out parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 by clicking here: Part 1 - Korea Part 2 - Osaka Part 3 - Tokyo Part 4 - Hakuba Kyoto, Hiroshima and Fukuoka It was quite fitting to leave Hakuba to torrential downpours of snow. It snowed so much overnight that we were worried we wouldn’t even make it to the station. Our shuttle car needed to be dug out of the meter of snow that see... read more
January 28th 2011
I found you! Today I returned to 清水時Kiyomizu temple, a place I remembered visiting in my 2006 visit to Kyoto, but could never remember the name. Last time, my classmates and I had only a short 30 minutes to explore over a kilometer of shops selling curios, souveniors, and temple gifts. This time, I had an entire day to slowly meander up the street to reach the temple. One thing I noticed, that I didn’t on the last trip, is that the shops nearest and furthest from the temple are the most expensive while the shops in the middle are much cheaper. I had a few gifts in mind, such as T-shirts for the niece 姪(めい)(mei) and nephew 甥(おい)(oi), and as I went to each shop I often times saw the exact same items for various ... read more
January 27th 2011
The nature of Kyoto has been preserved as well as the historic sites, while the city has grown with the population of approximately 1.5 million. ... read more
