Monkeys & Mind Games

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In order to get a early start, we had ordered breakfast to be delivered to our room at 7:30am. Somehow we all were up and out of there way in time for it to be brought in. They cleaned away our futons and set our table up with trays of breakfast food. It was a diverse tray with more things that I could possibly eat. I tried everything, finding the things I enjoyed most and finishing those off. You can guess what the guys' trays looked like by the end. Again we finished the meal off with tea and coffee. Then we packed up and dropped our bags off with the front desk so we could continue exploring Arashiyama before heading over to the opposite side of Kyoto called Higashiyama.
Our first stop of the morning was up at the top of a mountain where they had a set up so you could up close and personal with local monkeys. We shared a bag of peanuts to get to try feeding them before following them around the forest to take pictures. There was even one little baby we were able to get pretty close to! They were adorable little creatures that were playing, drinking, or lounging in the shade. There was a pond with coy fish that one little monkey was attempting to try and catch. On the walk back down the mountain there was a little park with a huge slide! Fred just HAD to try it out - despite the fact that his behind was too wide. It looked fun, but a little warm to the touch. Tyler and I passed on following along.
At the bottom of the mountain was a river that we walked along to see if there were any neat views. We stumbled upon a waterfall. There was a number of small boats out on the water. Most were being propelled by people using long bamboo poles. The interesting thing was that they weren't just using their arm strength to move the boat but their entire body. They would stick the pole in the water and walk backwards which would move the boat forward. A crane was also hanging out along the water watching a local fisherman. So we watched them both and snapped some pictures before heading back to try the Tenryu-ji temple again.
This time we were able to go in. On the walk in Tyler was stopped by a group of deaf Japanese kids. Apparently they were practicing their English so Tyler read a story along with them. They were so excited to have met him and were taking pictures with him after the fact. Finally we made it up to the temple, and it had a fantastic garden for us to explore. Since it was our first temple, we spent a lot of time exploring the inner yard and buildings. There were some really old tapestries and elaborate shrines of Buddha within the temple. Ready to explore more of Kyoto, we grabbed our bags from the Ryokan and headed over to Higashiyama for our next hostel. When we arrived the hostel was closed for lunch, and we were afraid we'd be lugging our bags with us around. Luckily they had a little bell where they came and let us in to drop off our bags even though it wasn't time to check in.
We ran off to wander around the area with no map besides the little not very descriptive one in my LonelyPlanet travel guide. Since lunch was our first mission, we started paying attention to popular streets looking for a place for food. We stumbled upon Gion and the Gion corner (which was really really expensive restaurants and not what we were lookig for). There were a bunch of people in kimonos walking around. In Arashiyama, we had also noticed the kimono thing. Turns out that a lot of shops will let you rent one for the day. We debated doing it, but figured our experience at the Ryokan counted. Eventually we ended up at a little cafe where we got some great lunches. I tried a real melon float along with my sandwich while the boys had beers. From there we ran into a bunch of temples. We hit Kodaiji Temple first which was a good introduction to the elaborate temples on this side of town that we could expect to see. Next door was Ryozen-Kwannon Temple which had a gigantic Buddha and was a memorial for the unknown soldier of World War II. We got there just as it started raining. Luckily much of it was indoors. Beyond those two was a street that looked busy and had some really interesting old looking shops. Turns out Kyoto was a popular place to take schools on fieldtrips this week because we ran into throngs of students exploring that part of town. It was shop after shop after shop of different nicknacks and souveniers. The road led up to the Kiyomizu Temple which sat on the side of a mountain and was held up by this wooden stilt structure. It had an elaborate grounds with some really interesting hot orange pagodas. There was even a purifying fountain that requried 4 foot long poles to get the water. A group of students stopped the three of us to get a picture. Aside the temple was a Jojuin Temple and Jishu-jingja shrine. At the shrine, there was a stone that if you touched it and had help walking with your eyes closed to the brother stone you would have good luck with love in the future. I guided Tyler from one stone to the other through a massive crowd of people. He was successful, so we'll see where his life goes from here! I saw some neat items at the shops, so I made the guys walk back through them so I could pick up some stuff. Meanwhile, Fred continued to get many "Wow" comments about his height, and one group of girls HAD to get a picture with him.
Leaving the shopping area we got a bit turned around looking for the 5 story pagoda we saw over top of all the buildings. Instead we ended up at another temple called Kenhinji. Many more pictures later (and me having to borrow a memory card from Tyler because mine was full) we headed back to our hostel. There we checked in and moved our stuff up to the room. Taking a break in the common room I did some planning for the next day. Meanwhile the owners family was in the room with us eating dinner. They had two little girls who were absolutely adorable! They didn't speak any English because they were about 2 and 4, but had a great time chatting with us and playing. The 2 year old managed to trade Fred his phone for a calculator (good job getting an upgrade girl!). Then Tyler tempted trying to trick the 2 year old with some 'magic' tricks with a piece of plasticwrap. She was not fooled at all though! The two of them started calling me onesan (meaning big sister in Japanese). The 4 year old was sharing her strawberries and blueberries with us as well. Overall we just had fun playing. When Dad finally went to bring them home, we got up and went to find something for dinner.
We stumbled upon a placed called Gottie's Beef. It turned into a four course steak dinner. This meal was served family style so we had to split everything up onto our own personal plates (that just happened to be cutting boards). Everything was fantastic! We were given two huge steaks that came with little sizzlers so if it wasn't cooked to your specifications (namely me not wanting super raw meat) you could cook it a little more on your own. With a couple bottles of red wine to pair up with it, we had a pretty darn good meal.
Ready to explore the nightlife of Kyoto, we ended up going up a couple floors to try a Jazz bar. On the way we found an Otaku Bar that we had to stop in briefly for a drink. The boys were not impressed so we didn't stay long. Instead we moved up to the Jazz Bar (that was not playing Jazz but had a bunch of instruments in the corner - including a huge bass and keyboard). Thursdays must not be their jazz show night. Instead we challenged each other with riddles:


• Tyler had one first that included a bunch of coins representing a mom & her 2 daughters, a dad & his 2 sons, and a tiger with its trainer. Only the adults (mom, dad, trainer) could row a boat that could fit 2 people. All of them had to make it from one side of the river to the other. However, the dad couldn't be left alone with the daughters and mom alone with the sons as well as the tiger couldn't be left without its trainer or it would kill everyone.
• Once we figured that one out, I challenged the guys with a riddle a friend of mine gave me. You are in a room with only 2 ropes and a lighter. The two ropes are the same length and burn for one hour exactly. However, they do not burn at a consistent rate (it could burn fast at first then slow down then speed up, etc.). Measure me out exactly 15 minutes. I eventually helped them out with the solution.
• Next I had a riddle from a seminar I did for my work group at Lockheed Martin. I gave them each three boxes made up of 4 strips of paper. They were allowed to move 2 strips and take away one. The catch was they had to end up with one.



After challenging ourselves, we decided we needed a break. So we headed out to find a Karaoke place. The bartender at the Jazz Bar was helpful in pointing us toward one that was a reasonable price. We spent an hour there having a blast! In Japan, the traditional way to do karaoke is to put your entire group in one room with a karaoke machine and you get to go at it. We ended up singing for an hour! When they called to let us know our hour was up, we couldn't believe how quickly it flew by. My one attempt at singing a Japanese song that I thought I knew was a big flop. I guess it helps a lot when they are singing along with you. We ended the night on a high note though singing Follow Me by Uncle Kracker.
As we went to leave the karaoke place I realized I was missing my old camera SD card holding all the photo's I took so far on my trip (until Tyler offered me the new one to keep going). I had a minor melt down. We scowered the place, then headed back to each of our previous stops. No luck at any of them! I was so upset and I took it out a little bit on the guys - poor them! To cope, they stopped at McDonalds on the walk back to the hostel. Back at the hostel, I dumped the contents of my day bag out. Luck on my side, I found the memory card. I was sooo very relieved. With all that adrenaline leaving me and drop in emotions, I crashed and headed to bed while the boys finished their McDonalds.

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