Advertisement
Published: July 27th 2005
Blur
Stupid condensation... So I skipped the second half of GW for a later date, and stuck in an entry on Tsukiji. The coming Wednesday, the whole IES group will be flying to Okinawa on a field trip. It's looking like tons of fun! I'm really psyched -- need to do a little research on stuff to look for and visit when we have free time during the trip too... Anyway, we are staying for 4 days, until Saturday. That doesn't seem like enough, but my budget is getting limited anyway.
Tonight, I'm going to watch Naruto -- I planned on studying a bit, but updating took so much longer than I thought. I wish I had some sort of assistant to do all this, or more technologically advanced programs that could just record my voice so I could give more detailed reviews. Typing a short summary and sorting through pictures takes so much time that I forget to actually recommend a place, or describe what sorts of things are there...
Anyway, oh well, I hope everyone back home is doing well. I've been sick for the past... oh shit, it's been a week -- time sorta flew
Bus
We are on our way, yah! Hip-hip hooray! (Ced, Steph, Robby) by. But I should be better by tomorrow. Some other people seem to be sick too, and they have antibiotics. I'm counting on my super-immune system (and my daily multi-vitamin and good diet) to be enough for me to pull through, especially before the Okinawa trip! Enjoy! And sweet dreams!
Wednesday, April 27 - Disney Sea Golden Week began for me this day. Golden Week runs for one week starting on Thursday, for this year. It's a time when all the Japanese have a week of holidays, and they usually travel overseas. Many students just stay home though, cause we're poor. I planned to go to Central Japan during Golden Week, but our bus didn't leave until Friday. So Wednesday, I went with Mika (DJ I met at a club the weekend prior) to Disney Sea, and tickets were 24 a person after 6pm. It's cool going on a weekday cause there are practically no lines, so I think we must've hit up 6 major attractions or so. There weren't really any shows playing past 5:30, except the one big one on the waterfront, which I saw. I was hoping it'd be as good as the one at
Bathroom
We're like bums... Disneyland (I forgot the name). It was pretty good. Oh yea, and I was pissed cause the lens liquid got underneath the lens somehow, and when it evaporated... So the only picture I took was a BLUR. Mika did take some pics on her camera, and as soon as those develop, and I scan them, I'll put that up. I was a little sore the gondola rides stopped running by the time we got there (like 10ish). The park closes at 11, but we were pretty beat from walking around anyway. I did get a lot of cool souvenirs for some of you. One of my favorite things was the strawberry popcorn -- it's amazing! Do we have it back in the States?!
Friday, April 29 - Leave for Kyoto Cedric, Stephane, Robby, and I left for Kyoto at 11pm via BUS.
Saturday, April 30 - Yah, Kyoto We arrive at 6am, or so. The first thing we hit up was McDonalds, then the BATHROOM to brush our teeth. KYOTO station is pretty big, but we decide to explore it later. We checked in at UNO House, which cost about 22 a night, per person. You
KyotoStation
We're finally here! get what you pay for... At least the staff was nice. Oh, and I had to ask like 5 people how to get there before we finally did.
Our first stop in Kyoto was NIJO Castle, which was just down the block. I was designated leader for the Golden Week (GW) trip, having planned everything, so everyone followed me... I said get on the bus, then after one stop, I said get off. The map was pretty crappy, and the place looked farther than it really was... Anyway, the GARDEN there was beautiful.
For lunch, we went to a place I frequented many times during GW, for its cheap, but pretty darn tasty PORK bowls. Only 350! After that, we decided to try to get into the Kyoto Imperial Palace. We found out that you need to call some tourist agency first, to reserve... So be careful if you ever travel to Japan -- some places require some weird procedures for reservations (like the famous moss garden requires you to send a mailed letter requesting admission...). We ended up just taking a walk in the PARK there, which was pretty uneventful.
Caleb and Amanda (who were also
Nijo1
Robby and Ced look tired... touring Kyoto and the Kansai area) met up with us for DINNER. Again, I mess up the directions and get us lost and walking in circles. So, we decide to just head out to the main night area in Kiya-machi (it has a nice river too). First, we went to "@ BAR", but it was too crowded. We opted for a YAKI-TORI (like kabobs) place, where a Japanese guy Caleb and Amanda had met the night previous joined us. So I didn't know what I ordered (I mean, I can read Japanese - not the Chinese characters though - but I won't always understand it), and I had chicken gizzard. It was ok.
After that, Cedric and Robby wanted to head back to save some money. Stephane and I wanted to go drink a little, so we tagged along to an Izakaya that the Japanese guy frequented. The owner knows him too, haha. It was really cheap, and I liked the place so much I went back 2 more times during the GW vacation. It was nice to practice Japanese with someone who really couldn't speak English at all too (the girl pouring the drink in the Izakaya pic).
Nijo2
We were happy back then... ;) Sunday, May 1 - Rainy Day, Gr! We slept in the morning, seeing that it was a rainy day. At about 2pm, we figured we'd try to hit up a temple anyway, out of boredom. We tried KINKAKUJI temple first. "Kin" means gold... It's nice to be able to say I've been to that tourist trap, but I would much rather enjoy an experience where I can touch and feel things, or at least see them up close. You're not allowed to cross the little pond on the boats that were docked there to go inside the pavilion -- I mean, it's small and couldn't handle the large amount of people traffic anyway. But still, I figure I'd get the same experience watching a video or looking at a postcard - so I don't think it was worth the 500 yen admission.
Next, we went to RYOANJI temple, with its famous Zen rock garden. I think there are 14 stones, strategically placed in a small rectangular garden. And from any vantage point along its viewing side, one is only able to see 13 of the 14 stones. It's very "Zen-like," I guess, with regards to people not
Garden
Garden at Nijo Castle... amazing. being able to see the whole picture, and everyone's perception of life will never be complete or exactly the same... I guess. Haha, it's interesting to contemplate, and I loved being able to sit along the steps of the "patio," for lack of a better word, and listen to the rain pitter patter onto the rocks. I also figured not many people got to visit the temple on a rainy day, so it was a more unique experience. Visiting Ryoanji makes me really want to make some kind of garden like this for my house in the future, where, on a rainy day (or just any old leisurely day), I can sit on the veranda (yes, I think that's the word!) and lost myself in thought. I took a video panning the garden, but I can't put that up, so you'll just have to visit me to see the "exclusive" videos!
Anyway, moving on, I also took a picture of some of the flowers on the rainy day. Sometimes I really appreciate little things that don't get noticed on this beautiful planet, and this was true on that rainy day. I find myself having a lot of happy days
Pork
Mmmm, good and cheap food... while I'm in Japan (probably because this is all one big vacation to me, and what I'm learning is fun and applicable instantaneously, as opposed to burying myself in scientific books trying to cram for the next midterm...).
Ok, so that night, Robby and I met up with ARI and his friend, TOM (who lives in Nara) to eat at a place called Mr. YOUNG Men. Yea, sounds like a pick-up joint... for gay guys. But anyway, I wanted to try Kyoto's "okonomiyaki" (described as a Japanese pancake... but don't assume it's sweet. It reminds me of the Vietnamese "banh xeo" which is also called a "pancake" - it is stuffed with veggies and meats). At the time, I thought it was the okonomiyaki in all of Kansai (the central/southern part of Japan where our GW was spent), but actually it's only Osaka's. Still, it was better than the first one I ever had here (back during the first week of orientation, or maybe the second, in Ginza), but still again, I'm not much of an okonomiyaki fan. And in one of those pics, I think it was yogurt we had on the side (yea, the sour kind, like
Park
It was pretty boring actually - I studied a little bit Armenians like, haha).
Monday, May 2 - Lost My Camera 😞 The weather looked pretty good, and I was ready to hit up 4 or 5 temples before we left Kyoto for Osaka. At the bus stop (so Tokyo is like a "train city," whereas Kyoto is a "bus city"), I put my camera down to get something from my backpack... I made a conscious mental note to remember to grab my camera before we get on the bus. Cedric called to me saying the bus was here, so I zipped up my backpack in a hurry and jumped on the bus. We were headed to he temple with 1000 golden buddhas. When we got off the bus, I reached for my camera to take a picture... Not finding it, I had a flashback of my leaving the camera at the stop. So, I told the guys to go ahead, and I'd catch up with them after. Stephane kindly lent me his phone so we could get in touch after I got my camera back.
So, I hopped back on the bus and ran back to look for it. The bus ride was about 20 minutes, so
Dinner
(left to right) Caleb, Amanda, Robby, Steph, Ced that sucked. When I got back to the stop, I couldn't find the camera. I went to the nearest police station, hoping to experience first-hand the honesty of the Japanese by finding my camera already returned... tough luck. So, I sit down and try my best to communicate to the police officer to make his report. Then, after about half an hour, he goes in back to show me a camera recently turned in... and yes, it was mine! I had to show him a picture saved on the camera of myself to prove it was mine first. So yea, I was really happy after that (and I was super worried mainly because I borrowed it from my brother for this trip, so it's not my camera to lose). I met up with the guys after they were done with the thousand buddhas, and was a little disheartened when Stephane told me it was his favorite of the whole trip, but not by much. I got to see for myself how honest the Japanese are - and not only that, it's the whole thing about going out of your way to turn in something to the local police station.
ABar1
"@ Bar" actually, in Kyoto And since we're on the point, and I'm deciding to continue this GW entry at a later date (because I'm tired and want to watch Naruto already), I want to say I lost $500 in traveler checks last week (it's 5/20 as I post this), and that was turned in immediately to the main office for lost and found. I mean, if they knew anything about traveler's checks, they'd know that stuff is really really really hard to actually exchange because you need to "countersign." When I first buy them, I need to sign the checks in front of the bank teller. Then, when you withdraw it, whichever country you're in, you need to sign again, and they check the signatures for a match. So yea, that makes it safer. Anyway, the point is, it was turned in right away and I was happy once again at the Japanese honesty and kindness.
Back to GW. So we decided to meet up at KIYOMIZU for our second stop, which was in the mountains nearby. I hopped on the bus and rushed to the mountain. The walk up was pretty cool, with lots of tourists packing the place (yes, I like
ABar2
Place reminds me of "Blood Sport"... and Steph looks like he's in an awkward position large crowds), filling the streets of souvenir shops. We met up with no trouble at the entrance. The others decided to save their money, so they waited for me at the entrance while I went in alone. The view ("Kiyomizu 4") of the city from up there was pretty cool. There is a section that is such a tourist trap though ("Kiyomizu 5/6/7"), and I'm not sure those legends have any basis at all... Like, there was a "love stone" there that's supposed to give good luck, but I didn't try it.
That night, Robby decided to stay in. So, the French guys and I decide to just go for a walk EXPLORING the city. Actually, we were supposed to go to Gion, but my "bad direction" streak of luck kept up, and we walked through another section. We did hit up Gion eventually that night, but it's ok since we had a lot of time to kill. It was nice bonding and playing "20 Questions." I wanted to have at least one drink, so we did just that by heading back to the cheap izakaya that we had went to with Caleb and Amanda... it took a little
Izakaya1
I highly recommend this place in Kyoto - cheap drinks and friendly owner time too, but we found it when I looked up the picture stored in my camera for reference, hehe. It was a pretty good night.
Wednesday, May 10 - Tsukiji Andy met Ari and I at our station to head off to the TSUKIJI fish market at 6am. I think it's the busiest fish market in the world, or something like that. Anyway, usually you want to be there by 4 or 5 in the morning so you can watch the people prepare the fish and all. Plus, the sushi will be the freshest you'll ever have, I guess. We got there and found out, of the two random days per month the market is closed , that Wednesday was it. Yah, we're lucky. We decided to stop by a little joint on the way back and I had a tuna STEAK, which was pretty good. I guess we'll go back for Round 2 after we return from Okinawa.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.068s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 6; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0228s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
anonymous
non-member comment
Wow Duy....you freaking suck! Nah...I'm happy for you and totally jealous of all the awesome fun you're having! I hope you're having a good time and keep taking all those pix for us back in the dull, boring ol' US of A. By the time you get back, I'll be stuck in a rut in some stank job but be sure to look me up! Have fun and spend some more money dammit!! (Dang yo...you been hookin up with a chick DJ? Mad props, son!) - Harlan