Show me the gold - Golden Pavilion, that is.

If we thought that the temples we'd seen thus far were impressive, we had no idea what was waiting for us with the Golden Pavilion. It seemed our luck had run out in terms of crowds when we had to wait in line to purchase entrance tickets. School groups were everywhere, as were tourists from everywhere (more Israelis seen here in one hour than on our entire trip). 

Ori and I play a game - spot the Israeli. We're usually spot on. Its just so easy to spot them - especially men. You guys, post army, with your legs spread stance and your arms behind your back, the look in your eye. I can smell you a mile away. Its not like we start talking to them, or befriend them. Its just funny to spot them. Im sure we're not the only ones playing this game, or one form of it, so don't roll your eyes when reading this. I wouldn't be surprised if you yourself have done it a time or two :)

Anyways, back to the Pavilion. Its gorgeous. Yaya, you say, you're a girl and you like gold. Maybe, however, Ori too was in awe. Its just that its so beautiful standing there like it was photoshopped into the background. Perfection. 

Thats something that we've noticed over our time here. Everything has to be perfect. Gardens are perfectly cut, roads are cleaned in the mornings, people are employed to pick up tiny little bits of garbage with tongs, standing on the left side of the escalators (which I mentioned in an earlier post). Actually, now that I think about it, I have to ammend that little bit iof information. If you're in Japan, stand on the left and let those who need to run go on the right. That means if you dont have to run, stand. Walking up the escalators doesnt count. However, all this is null and void if you're in Okayama. In Okayama, stand on the right and free up the left for the runners. How are you supposed to know? Well, if you read my blog you know. Otherwise you can observe others, which is always a good thing in Japan as a foreigner.  

Back to our morning at the Golden Pavilion. There were what seemed like millions and we had to fight our way to the best viewing angle and of course the best selfie angle. No words can describe it. 

The thing is actually covered in gold - inside and out. And the location is amazing. Right in the middle of a tiny little pond, with perfect garden. There was even a man there wading in the water pulling out old pieces of Iris leaves from the water so that it doesnt taint the perfect look of the place.

We spent quite a while there in the little park. We even went back to the start because we saw the crowds thining out and wanted to see if we could enjoy the view without so many people. Success. 

Having for our fill of gold for the day, we decided we were templed out. A term Maya and I had coined the day before - it means to have had your fill of temples. 

We got a bus back to the centre of downtown and went looking for Ippudo - a Ramen place that Ori  had read about and wanted to try. We were let in immediately (he read to expect a line up, thankfully, didnt have to). We sat at the bar and were told that there was vegetarian Ramen - double success. Ori drooled over the dumplings and the Ramen and I had the Ramen with extra veggies. I could have sworn I could hear him pray as he was eating. You'd have thought the poor boy hadnt eaten for days the way he was enjoying this Ramen. Funny enough, on the backs of the wait staff's tshirts was written something along the lines of - Your happiness over eating our food makes us happy. Well, Ori's happiness must have made them very happy. 

We then went on walking about in downtown when I saw Tokyu Hands. It is a department store that is known to have crazy stuff. Even the Loney Planet recommends going there for kookie things. We were not disappointed. 

I have no idea how to describe that contraption that Ronaldo is advertising, maybe a smile muscle excerciser, but it wasnt the only thing there that had his name on it. And the thing with the woman in a mask, i have no idea. But the bottom left corner, thats where poor Ori lost me, or I lost him. And entire floor dedicated to stationary, arts and crafts, and washi tape - hundreds of colours, designss, widths, finishes (glossy, mat, embosed, etc). I was a good girl and didnt buy any. I had bought some the week before and knew that I was going to buy more so, i tried to be good. 

We left having bought only a dumpling maker. I think thats what frustrated Ori even more so than had I bought half the stationary floor. I wandered around and didnt buy anything. I told him he should be thankful that Im not the type to buy half the store and that I get satisfaction from looking and not only buying. He concended the fact. Walking around, we thought we spotted a Geisha and her Meiko but then we saw the photographers and how she was standing for photos. Geishas dont do that. Geishas dont stand around taking pictures at all. When they are out in public in their full gear, they are on their way to an appointment. In fact, we were told not to hold our breath cause a sighting is as rare as seeing the Loch Ness monster. We took a few photos of this pretend Geisha and moved on. 

We then walked towards Pontocho.We decided to look for a specific Shabu Shabu restaurant that was recommended to us. It is a meal in a pot. Better know where it is in advance, see if they need reservations (they laughed at me when they finally understood what I was asking) and to see whether there were any menu options for me. We found it, there were food options, and were told to come back at eight. 

Seeing the little streets and shops was lots of fun.  As were walking around the little streets, Ori says to me quietly, almost in a whisper - Sivan Look! 

OMG its the Loch Ness monster. No, thats not what he said to me, its what Im saying to you. We had a sighting of a real Geisha! Im still excited writing this down. Within seconds I became a Geisha stalker. Too bad my manners and limited knowledge of Geisha tradition stopped me from breaking out in a run to be ahead of her and turn around snapping shots like a mad woman. Youll have to excuse the shots, they are the best I could do. 

Sooooo coooollll! We could immediately see the different in clothing, hair (wow, it was perfect, and gorgeously made up), makeup, shoes (OMG the shoes were crazy high) and the attitude. It was exactly as we were told. They dont smile at you. They dont stop for photos. They don't stop for anything. In fact, her walking was a little like the parting of the Red Sea for the Israelites. As she walked, the crowds drew apart creating a path for her and her Meika. After about a minute or two of stalking her, she turned and walked into a subdued tea house. An Israeli woman walked in after her and promptly came back out. 

Did I mention that it was super cool?

It took a while for the excitement to calm down, all around. There actually was a Japanese woman who was stalking right along with me, but she was way worse. She actually did break into a run to snap photos of her from the front. I hope she got some good shots, cause I doubt the Geisha was very happy with her. 

We got back to the hotel, showered changed and went back to Pontocho for the Shabu Shabu restaurant. We were led upstairs and were invited to sit on pillows on the floor by low tables - awesome! Sometimes I feel that because of my dietary restrictions, Ori isnt getting to experience all the Japanese food that he could. However, we do try to try different things and local things (not just a French bakery like the dessert from the night before). Well, this place served us a brass bowl to the table with a bunch of vegetables, raw chicken breast, and noodles. The bowl was placed atop a gas burner in the middle of our table.

The waitress/cook lit the burner and within minutes the thing started to boil. The base was a white miso soup (we got to choose from four different types, but that was the one that was recommended to us). It was a relaxing evening, and mostly quiet speakers and the attmosphere was great. Once the food was ready, we dished it into little bowls and dug in. Yummy. I was positively impressed.  

We went back to to the hotel satisfied and satiated from our last full day in Kyoto. 

OMG a real Geisha!! Yes, I know, Im repeating myself, but it was great. 

Tomorrow we'll be leaving Kyoto and heading to Takayama for the Festival. Woooo hooo. I wonder what tomorrow will bring? 

Fushimi-Inari, Nara Buddha and Sushi with friends

Ok, before I start telling you about the attractions of the day, I have to warn you, if you're planning on coming to Japan, regardless of what anyone else tells you, bring bug spray. Lots and lots of industrial strength bug spray. And just in case, bring after bite. I was told its not the season for mosquitos, and seeing as we're backpacking, I decided not to take either of the above necessities. BIG mistake. At least for me. I have been eaten alive, all over. I have on on my temple, about twenty on each ankle, a big collection in the shape of a C on my back, and don't get me started on my arms. Ori? "don't worry about him, he's just fine. Not one bite. Probably cause they're all busy biting me. 

Ok, back to the day we had. Throughout the night there was torrential rain. The typhoon had finally arrived. Thankfully, we awoke to a few drizzles and by the time we were on our way, the clouds had mostly cleared up.  We headed out to Fushimi-Inari. It is a temple made up of one thousand red Toriis, one after another, creating a long red passage way up the mountain. 

It takes about an hour, maybe an hour and a half to climb all the way to the top (yup, another day of climbing) but it was worth it. So different from any other temple, from any other place in Japan actually. Again we were blessed with timing and were able to take some photos on our own. The thing about the climb is you dont really know how much further, so with the humidity and the bugs and the scratching, I can't say I totally enjoyed every second, but was encouraged to continue when the canadian guy we passed on his way back down reported we only had another twenty minutes. And a little after that a nice Chinese couple offered me some of their tiger balm to put on my bites. Just before the top there is a beautiful point over looking the city. Funny enough, it was the opposite direction as the view point we had the day before when we were on the Monkey mountain. We continued upwards to the top of the mountain (233 meters elevation) but there was no view from there. It was just the top of the temple with a prayer alter and some religious artifacts. Interesting but not what we had expected. 

It was probably one of the more impressive temples we had see on our trip. 

Next we went to Nara. We got back to the train station and found out that we had almost a half hour before the train to Nara and so we went hunting for some food. I spotted a kiosk of something at the end of the block and we went investigating. It was a man cooking beef on a bar-b-q. Ori had just said that he was craving meat so I told him to go ahead and that i would head back to the 7 eleven and find a rice and tuna triangle. As Im standing in front of the rice options trying to figure out which is the tuna and which is the shrimp, in comes Ori half harried waving a skewer of meat at my face - You have to try this! He said excitedly. I took a bite, thinking, ok, its beef, how exciting could it be? Oh how I underestimated Japanese street meat. It was amazing. Heaven on a stick. Do you want one? he asked. Already half way to the door to get another before we had to get to the train. I paid for the drink and rice triangle and waited for him outside. He came back with two more. It was that good. I dont know what kind of meat it was, or what cut, or what spices he put n it, or how long he cooked it, but it was mmmmmm yummmy!  Needless to say, I did not eat that rice triangle. 

Throughout the planning of this trip, I told Ori that I didnt want this to be a checklist trip. The kind where you pile on a whole bunch of things in one day and you go - check, check, check, that youve been to those places. Its not the kind of trip I wanted, and definitely not the kind of honeymoon. Luckily, its not Ori's cup of tea either. We take our time, we stroll, we sit and enjoy parks. We may not frequent coffee shops, but we're not rushing through either. Why am I mentioning this at this point? Well, because today is the closest I felt to that kind of trip, and yet, not really. Once we were finished the climb back down Fushimi Inari, Ori suggested we pop over to Nara to see the big buddha. It wasnt on our original schedule, but I had never seen a big buddha and Ori, having seen a few in his travels in the East, said that I would probably enjoy it. Since we were so close to Nara (which used to be Japan's capital in the past). We got on the train - the local one, Oy. The Lonely Planet says that Nara is a short 30 minutes away. And so when it took us over an hour and fifteen, we were seriously frustrated. The train stopped and waited at every train station for so long, we made a point of getting the schedule for the next direct train back once we arrive in Nara.   

We got to Nara to find deer everwhere. Not like in Miyajima where there are a few, here they were everywhere. And people had booths selling their crackers. One woman started feeding them and they almost fed on her. The photo here is of an actual deer - this is not a statue. 

We got to the temple and were wowed by the view. The old wooden temple on a backdrop of bright green was awe inspiring. 

The Buddha inside is 15 meters high. Our eyes took a second to adjust to the low light inside the temple from the bright sunlight outside. I looked up and there it was - a huge, serene, quiet buddha guarded by two golden statues. He is sitting on lotus flower leaves, each carved symbolically with images of people, temples, flowers, and other deities. the details were indescribable.

 We walked slowly around the statues trying to take them all in. 

 Hard to do when just its hand is that big. 

What a fabulous day so far. But wait, its not over :) We havent had dinner yet. 

We got back to the hotel, showered and got all pretty and went out to meet Maya and Erez for sushi dinner. Yum! Too bad the place was closing twenty minutes after we arrived (no exceptions). We inhaled our dinner and went our looking for dessert. Maya and Erez recommended a french bakery place down the street and so thats where we went and had the souffle that they had before. The Japanese are not really well known for their desserts. Not only the dish itself but the practice of eating dessert. Most often, people will purchase sweets (usually bean paste based) and take it home to be shared with friends and family there). Restaurants dont often have desserts on their menu.  

The souffle was nice and the company was nicer. 

Signing off, till next time. 

Hello Kyoto

Our first morning in Kyoto started out a little overcast and chillier than we were used to, but that was better than the typhoon we had been warned about coming our way. We started out the morning in Higashiyama south and later headed to Higashiyama north. It was a full day of temples, temples and more temples. All beautiful in its own way. All difficult to get to on their own level - stairs and more stairs and usually up a mountain. 

Knee problems? Thats for the faint of heart and not for those wanted to see the culture and history of Kyoto. 

I knew that Kyoto was the area to spot Geishas (and pretend to be one), but I didnt undertand how many people actually did it - until today. When preparing for the trip, both Ori and I read that there were  shops one could go to in order to get the Geisha experience - dress, make up, riksha, photographers - different packages for different pockets. And there is the same thing for men (in a male version of the Kimono and minus the make up). Who knew so many people actually wanted that experience. Kimono dressed women were all over old Kyoto. Everywhere we looked, there was another one, each with hair more elaborate than the next. 

We were worried about doing the route on a Saturday as we are not fans of big lines (who is?) and have been lucky to have missed the main tourist season. But because of the rain that was forecast, we didnt want to chance missing out on anything. We were lucky that while there were people, we still were able to enjoy the views an the temples. 

The first temple we arrived at, we started walking up the stairs and were approached by a young woman who introduced herself as Yuma. Yuma is studying English and offered to give us a free tour of the temple. As this offer worked wonderfully last time (in the garden in Okayama with the retired army general), I figured- why not? Well, I guess we did a good deed and let her give us a tour but her knowledge of the place leaves a little room for improvement. 

On with the day. Though i mentioned it started cloudy, the day quickly got hotter. and the humidity! OMG. I don't think I've mentioned the humidity in this country and is doing you a disservice. Its humid! Really humid. You think its hot, but its really the humidity that gets you. And when youre climbing up stairs and hiking up mountains, well the humidity only gets worse. 

We walked passed many stands selling ice cream. And unless youve been to Japan, i dont know if youll know this, but they love everything with green tea. Especially ice cream. So we stopped at a tiny little ice cream stand and i asked to taste the - pumpkin and chestnut concoction. It was really cool. Pumpkin ice cream and a chestnut preserve and then some more ice cream. It tasted interesting but... I was going to order something and the man suggested green team ice cream - his is unlike all the others. The others, he said, all use green food colouring. His, he went on to boast, uses real green tea powder. Ok, if you insist. It too was ok. Im glad I tried it, and made Ori take a taste off of mine, but I dont think ill be reordering it. 

We then continued to the North and walked on the philospher's path. We stopped along the way to look at Japanese house robes (sooo comfortable) and ended up trying on a Kimono (trully accidentally). One second Im looking at patterns and the next moment this old woman is wrapping me in a kimono and barking at Ori to get his camera out. 

Walking around the grounds of Nunzenji temple, we found a magical little place that seemed totally out of place in Japan, I thought it seemed more European in architecture. We waited a bit until the Japanese girls finished their photo session (they never end!) and took some shots on our own. Then came this lovely Japanese man who offered to take a few shots of us together. He had so much patience and waited until others were out of the background. He even gave a shout to some who rudely stepped in (so uncharacteristic of Japanese, but lovely lovely man). I love this shot!

The philosophers path was a real experience. Ori was really excited about walking in the path of philosophers. Can you imagine the decisions that were made walking these stones. 

Hungry after a day of walking climbing and pondering the meaning of life, we settled on Udon at a convenient place. Never do that! Its never good to decide on a place to eat in a hurry when youre hungry. It was not great, to say the least. We crossed the street to walk back to the hotel and what do we see through the glass window of a restaurant? A man hand making udon. We walked in out of curiosity and we saw that they also made vegetarian tempura - many different kinds. And even chicken tempura. All in different oil containers. Awesome. You might recall that in an earlier post I mentioned how difficult it is for me to find meals because of everything containing pork. It seems as if in Kyoto, its the same. I thought that gioza, or dumplings would come with different ingredients, but thats not to be. But tempura - well, you'd think that too wouldn't be an issue. But that seems to be always with shrimp. Well, this place is a heaven sent place for me. Fresh Udon, no pork soup, and veggie tempura. Tastes great, and did I mention cheap? And all the patrons were locals, not one tourist face around (other than ours) We were coming back for a late dinner (the earlier udon was a late lunch and was so tiny, and unappetising, it could not be called dinner).

We did end up coming back after a brief rest and it was worth it - and a half. Highly recommended. And they were all so very nice. A real mom and pop kind of place. 

After that we called it a night. Happy stomachs, happy travelers. 

Morning Prayer, Meditation and Kyoto, sushi

Yes, I know, its been a few days since Ive written, but they have been so full that Ive just been to exhausted to sit and write. Actually, weve been coming back to the hotel so tired and late that its all I can do to muster up the energy to shower and crawl into bed. So, back to Friday morning...

As I was saying in the last post, we wanted to wake up to observe the monks' prayer, which was to take place at 6:30am. Ori put on the alarm so we wouldnt sleep through the early prayer. Turns out, no need. At six am sharp the gong went off - many times. And up we were and on time at prayer. 

It was quite interesting - in the way that I felt like i was in synagogue. The main monk said something and the others repeated. they all chanted songs and they was some big metal bowl hit (ok, so you dont do that in synagogue, but stil). After prayer, all the monks but the head monk and our student monk left the prayer room (they took out the tatami sleeping mats out of the guests rooms and went to prepare breakfast). The head monk then led us in a meditation lesson which was translated (quite impressively) by the student monk (maybe english is becoming a job requirement?). Right hand is for Buddah and left hand is for you. put them together and thats how you take in buddah and wisdom into your heart. 

We then went back to our room and were served breakfast. Not as impressive as dinner but still fine. Soup, rice, tofu stuff, and of course green tea. Once we were all packed up we went to check out and were gifted with fortune bracelets. Bye bye Temple Yochiin.

We went walking and visited the famous cemetary in Koyasan - Oko-no-in. 

We then got on the bus to get our bags and head back to the train station - later Kyoto. Sitting on the bus, I was looking for our bus passes and couldnt find them. Ori and I have developed a habit that he carries some things and i others. Transportation passes are one of my things. I emptied pockets and my purse and couldnt find them. I asked Ori if he accidentally took them from the desk as the woman was explaining what each card was (they are not JR passes and as such not the usual comprehensive cards - no english). He insisted he didnt have them. As we were approaching our stop I asked him once again to check his pockets. Though he continued insisting that there was no way he had them, he stuck his hand into his pocket and what do you know? He first blushed and then out came his hand from his pocket with tickets. He smiled shepishly and even botherred to ask whether I had put them in his pocket. Oy. Well, at least they were found. 

Bye Koyasan. 

Back to the temple, to the bus, to the cablecar, subway, train, bus and hotel in Kyoto.

It was getting late by the time we arrived in Kyoto so we didnt do too much but managed to find a great sushi place. Probably nothing in comparison to to the quality of the fish market tuna that we had the other week in tokyo, but still yummy and the service was great and the place was full of locals as well as tourists. Later we found out that it was also recommended in the Lonely Planet book. 

Full on yummy fish, we went out to enjoy the evening. We walked around Gion and the area and even spotted a Geisha (fake up, explanation to come tomorrow).

More about the exciting stuff in Kyoto in the next entry. RIght now, Im pooped and going to bed. 

Theres so much more I have to write about - Japans toilets, and the toilet paper, womens obsession with heels, and so much more 

Stay tuned ....