Kyoto - Day 3 - A Gold and Orange Day

After a busy day traveling around Kyoto we were ready for some serene temples on day 3. We got up early and took the bus  to The Golden Temple (Kikakuji – michi) and took about 40 mins.(details at the bottom of the page).  When we arrived we were met with the beautiful gold foil building once owned by aristocrats but ‘acquired’ by an Ashikaga Shogun  after his death it was turned in a temple. Lee tried to explain what a Shoegun was to me for a long time but in the end he just found it easier to say they were old Japanese Gangsters. I realise historians out there may be shaking your head in anger at that blase reference but for my simple mind it helped. You can’t enter the building but it was a lovely sight to behold. Lee didn’t know what we were going to see so he was extremely impressed by the view that met him. We wandered the grounds and walked to the near by shrine. Here you can buy a candle for what ever wish you may have. I think it said a lot about humans that the only candles that were sold out were ‘Let me find love’. We went for the ‘keep my family safe’ candle. We aren’t Shinto Buddhists but it is always better to be safe than sorry…right?
At this point we both noticed a fortune machine. These fortunes cost 100 yen and can be found at some shrines in a vending machine style box. This shrine is so popular than they had an English option. We aren’t superstitious but we both ran to the box hoping to find out what lay ahead. We got one each and luckily we both got excellent ones…..apart from the travel section, which was ….um…. less than comforting. Ahh well you can’t win them all.
After that it was back to Kyoto station before getting a train to Inari. Here we could see something i’ve been looking forward to seeing for a long time, The Fushimi Inari Shrine, or as you may know them, the orange gates. I didn’t know much about these gates until my friends visited and I saw their lovely pictures but these gates are all owned by businesses and have been there for hundreds of years (since 1589 infact), they are meant to bring good luck to the people named on them. We decided that if we were going to do it, we’d do it right and ended up walking the entire route of the gates, we have to earn all our sushi and noodles some how! The loveliest part of the walk was arriving at small family shrines. People come and honor their ancestors. A lot of the time they honor them with a shot of sake. There were lots of little glasses of sake open for the ancestors to enjoy. These Japanese ancestors must be able to handle their liquor with the amount of sake they had left for them. I have now requested the same when I kick the bucket, but maybe a bottle of wine instead…or ten.
It was a tiring day but we rewarded ourselves with a trip to Nishiki market where we ate far too many delicious things. We still haven’t quite mastered waiting to eat the octopus balls (or Takoyaki) once they cool down since we are too greedy so at the moment they are all octopus napalm to us. The squid on a stick was a particular weird edition to my palette but it was still really tasty.
And that was it, we headed back to our hotel shattered and ready to head to Osaka the next day…..but we had to do one more thing before we left. We had to try the in-room Karaoke. The remote luckily had English and we embarrassingly sang the night away while jumping on the bed and drinking cherry beer. We assume the room was sound proofed since no one complained. We had far too much fun. My new life mission is to now have noreabang (Korean karaoke but in a private room) in my own house. In hindsight 4am may have been a tad too long to sing until….opphs. Aww well , in the words of our friend Emmett we definitely ‘smashed’ Kyoto.
How to get to the Golden Pavillion  (Kikakuji – michi) :
We took the 205 bus from Kyoto station, which was located on stand B3. There was also a bus running from stand B2 that took you there (number 101). It cost us 230 yen and weirdly in Japan you seem to pay for the bus as you are getting off so make sure you have the right change or a Icc charge card. When you get off the bus you can just follow the crowd but its on your left and a short way up the hill. It costs 480 yen (about 3 pound) to get in.

How to get to The Fushimi Inari Shrine:
We traveled from Kyoto station and got a train to Inari. As soon as you exit the station you will see the large orange shrine. It’s hard to miss. We didn’t have to pay to get in which was an added bonus.

Kyoto - Day 2 - Geishas, Monkeys and A Forest of Bamboo

Today was a day we’ve been waiting for. Today we visited the Bamboo forest in Arasiyama and the Arasiyama Monkey Park (Iwatayama).
Lee, who has dubbed our holiday ‘The Great Monkey Marathon’ loves animals but monkeys and apes in fact all simians are his favourite.
We set off from Kyoto station to the Saga Arashiyama station via the JR line . Once we hopped off the train there were signs everywhere so even we didn’t get lost, and soon enough the towers of bamboo were in front of us.
The bamboo forest was fantastic. Towering stalks that filled the area with the smell of wood and greenery. When the wind blew we could hear the wood gently knocking all around us…that and Lee singing ‘The old bamboo’ from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which we realised we only knew one line too.  It was fantastic. The tourists around did detract from the peace and calm but we went quite early and avoided huge crowds. It was free to enter, which helped our puny budget.
Then it was over the magnificent river to the monkey forest. On the walk to the forest we had to pause and  take in the sights. This place really is stunning. Many Japanese people seem to come to visit Kyoto to experience the traditions and a lot of them wear the traditional Kimonos. It’s great to see them dressed up everywhere. These three girls asked us if we wanted to take a pictures of them and we jumped at the chance. They also wanted pics of us with them but for the life of me I have no idea why. I’ve talked to people who live in Korea who worry about visiting Japan because it could be ever so slightly similar but I can’t explain how different these two countries are. If you are in two minds, ignore the doubt and come now! Especially to Kyoto.
All this excitement was had even before we scaled monkey mountain , which is a little steep to start with but not a very long walk at all. I think older people would be ok if they did it slowly and wore trainers… if Lee and I can do it, anyone can.
Our first glimpse of a monkey was when it was on the path up ahead. It was so close. We sat for far too long, just excited to be near them. When we actually made it to the top viewing area we were surrounded by these lovely cute creatures. In the feeding room we bought some apples and peanuts for 100 yen (about 50p) and expected the money’s to grab and attack for the food but they were patient and kind. Just touching their soft little hands to feed them was thrilling. After about an hour or more we forced ourselves down the mountain both agreeing it was one of the best things we’d ever done. Lee didn’t steal a monkey but I can see he was tempted.

We only had the two sights we really wanted to see, which left us lots of time to wander and discover. We headed back into Kyoto city and stumbled upon a restaurant just outside the Kawaramachi station. It was called ‘Mr Young Men’ and their cook filled our bellies with ramen and Takoyaki (octopus ball covered in egg). Before coming to Japan Lee swore he hated Japanese food. I tried many times to convince him he just needed to try it. Luckily he dipped his toe into the Japanese food bonanza and now I think I’ll never get him back out of the pool of Takoyaki and Teriyaki.
Once we had rolled ourselves out of there we found ourselves on Pontocho alley. Famous for Geishas and its old history rooted in the nightlife. It was just after dusk and although in the back of my mind I was hoping to spot a Geisha on the backstreets I knew that the chances on a Wednesday were slim…but just up ahead we saw two beautiful ladies who stood out from all the lovely Japanese tourists wearing their kimonos. In front of us was two elegant Maiko or apprentice Geisha’s. I could have taken a photo but it was such a great moment that I just watched them with Lee. I have seen online how much they are hounded and I didn’t want to be one of those people. They seemed to see the camera around my neck and nodded in appreciation, but then again that could just have been in my tiny excited mind.
So that was our day. Filled with Monkeys, Bamboo and Geishas in Gion. I am not sure we could have had a more Japanese day if we tried. Tomorrow we are planning on a trip to the Fushimi Onari-taisha shrine (or the orange gates to anyone who is clueless like I was until I just looked up the name on Google)
I am shocked that I have managed to write two days in a row but this jacuzzi bath in the hotel makes it very easy to find reasons to relax and write. Let’s see how long I can keep this up…

Kyoto - Day 1 - Jacuzzis and Squid

Well we did it. After a few crazy weeks that have melted into a blur of to-do lists and organisation we have finally left Korea. Once we worked our last days in our offices and received some lovely gifts we had to move out of our little flat and become homeless, jobless bums for a few days. Luckily we have a good group of people who put us up for a few days. Days  filled with house wine and slumber parties.
Then it was a serious of teary goodbyes, some of which took places at a train station platform which was heart wrenching while others took place at the airport while boarding our flight. I’ve never waved goodbye to someone as I walked onto a plane, as expected it was bitter sweet. I have been annoyed at myself for the last two years because while saying goodbyes to people I haven’t cried. I cry just thinking about the first few minutes of UP so it is especially weird when I didn’t cry watching my best friends walk away. I have had a stone in my stomach and felt horrible but tears refused to fall. That was until I sat down on the plane and two years of happy memories overwhelmed me. I listened to the songs we had all become use to and made my own special montages with my memories. Jeez, we have been lucky in Korea.
But now we are moving on to a crazy new adventure, and this adventure happens to start in Japan. We are currently sat in our bizarre hotel in Kyoto which can only be described as a weirdo’s sex den. We found a really cheap room through booking.com at the Grand Fine hotel that had a Jacuzzi bath and was well situated so we couldn’t say no. What we discovered when we arrived was that the hotel had written the line ‘not a family hotel’ on the booking form for a reason. A phone in the room to shout for call girls, a special refrigerator to buy lingerie and a ‘back massager’ were all part of the deal…oh also did I mention we have a full size slot machine, a wall projector and KARAOKE in the room?!? I am not complaining. There are certain things in the room I will not be touching but the price fitted and the fun of it all is surely what everyone expects when coming to Japan , and I mean that in the best way possible.
After a bumpy ride with Peach air we got the JR to Kyoto and explored the area. We had our first taste of Okonomiyaki, which is a fried batter, cabbage and squid. We also added some pork to be sneaky.  It’s sweet and delicious. A new favourite for us both. This was accompanied by the ever popular Yaki Soba noodles. Our bellies are happy.
We didn’t venture out tonight since sleeping on friends floors has taken it’s toll but tomorrow it is a bright new day filled with temples, monkeys and bamboo forests….and hopefully more okonomiyaki. The rest of my night is Jacuzzi baths, fruit beers and keylime pie cheesecakes. Japan I’m never leaving!
So its さようなら from us (or sayonara/goodbye if like us you don’t speak a lick of Japanese) . I would love to promise I will write on here every day but we all know thats not true but I will try my best to keep you updated (Hi Mum) and so that I don’t let those little memories run away from me. I have the memory of a gold fish with amnesia.