Kyoto and Osaka

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Ok, so Susan's last day in Kyoto was somewhat of a disappointment, as it rained all day long. Pouring, from morning til night. Being as that it was raining, we abandoned our original plan of visiting the Golden Pavilion and spent the day shopping around Gion. Turns out that shopping took us an entire day, and by the time we were done, we were both exhausted.
It was a nice stroll through the city though, and we definitely needed the time to get souvenirs. We spotted a few Geishas as well walking around Gion.
After Susan left the following day, I learned that the last train from Kyoto to KIX was 10PM, and the first train out of Kyoto was 5AM. My flight is at 7AM out of KIX to Narita, so turns out that I am obliged to spend the night at Osaka. So I checked out of my ryokan by 10AM, and turns out it was a gorgeous day following the rain, and so I strolled over to the Golden Pavilion (2 hour "stroll" left me starving and tired and dehydrated in the sun). On my way up I stopped by a phenomenal ramen shop called Goku Ramen, at the intersection between Kitaoji and Karasuma dori. The shop offers for different recipes for ramen, each bowl named after one of the four characters from the Chinese novel Journey to the West. Goku being the most popular character (and also the name of the popular character from Dragon Ball, which, is also based on Journey to the West), was the name of their signature recipe. Everything is supposedly organic, and the broth is a thick, flavourful base. It was very good indeed.
Susan has been obsessed about red maple leaves, hoping everyday that the Japanese maple leaves would turn color while she was here. Alas they didn't, until today, the day after she left. At the Golden Gate Pavilion, just above the gate, a branchful of maple leaves glowed a orange-red under the sun light, against the bright blue sky. Feeling suddenly nostalgic of my travel buddy for the past two weeks, I stopped in the middle of the crowd, impeding the traffic of tourists behind me as I tried my best to capture the leaves with my camera, and to hopefully share the moment with her later, over cyberspace.
Early in the afternoon, I returned to the Kyoto station and took a train to KIX. While here, I learned that ANA has decided to screw me over by arranging for my flight out of KIX to land at Haneda, and to require me to then find my own way to Narita airport to re-check-in and connect with my international flight to Dulles Airport, all within a 3 hour timeframe. I find the situation both oddly sporty (kinda like The Amazing Race on tv) and most definitely irritating. What if I miss the damn bus and don't make it to Narita on time? Evidently losing this race would mean dire consequences for me...
So let's see, as my trip in Japan comes to a close, I've:
- tasted Fugu
- tasted Ramen in Kyoto, Sapporo, and Fukuoka
- tasted a live squid
- tasted abalone, sea urchin, and a few other without names at a sushi restaurant
- taken a bath in an onsen in the mountains
- taken a bath in an onsen by the ocean
- taken a bath in a sand pit
- walked through temples with deer
- hiked on a sacred mountain
- seen monks
- seen geishas
- seen cormorant fishing
- slept in traditional inns
- slept in a temple
- slept in capsules
- apparently sleeping in an airport tonight (too much hassle taking a train out of KIX to sleep for a mere 4 hours before coming back here again)
- and spent way, WAY too much money =)

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Photos

Red Maple Leaves
This is for Susan

Comments

[Susan]

Red Japanese Maple Leaves!!!
Shugi!! They're BEAUTIFUL! Thank you. =) But of course your pictures do have a tendency of bringing out the best in a beautiful scene. I'm glad you actually made it to the Golden Pavilion. Was it worth the visit? Would it have met all that anticipation I had for it?