...the first official cherry blossoms have sprouted and Tokyo is going to go crazy!!! I guess this is one of the earliest appearances for the much anticipated sign of spring. Today, Wednesday, is actually a bank holiday so I'm sure the hanami parties will be starting in the parks and continuing for the next couple weeks. Apparently it's good luck when the petals fall on you.
It's been a slow start today after a hectic few days touring Kyoto and Nara. Great sights (including the world's largest wooden structure/ temple), temples, shrines, narrow alleys, glimpses of geisha, tourists, lots of walking...and oh yeah, trying to stay warm. Karen had made all the arrangements which started with an early morning bullet train to Kyoto. Pretty slick. Spied a very snow covered Mt Fuji and just overall felt very "Scarlett" as we followed in her footsteps....lol. The countryside was very industrial although the hills in the background did offer a smattering of color from time to time.
We walked around Kyoto on Monday and thoroughly enjoyed the sights - although it was very chilly. Thank goodness for layers. The walk was further enhanced by the fact that we were carrying our backpacks as we weren't checking in to our ryokan/ onsen (traditional Japanase hotel and bath house) until later in the day. The backpack gang - makes me laugh.... It'd been awhile since I'd done that.
I was so happy when we checked in and got to see the lovely room. We'd been joking about how cold it was going to be in our paper room - but quite the opposite in fact. The room was fairly stark, "carpeted" with tatami mats and featured a low table and chairs. This was to be where we'd be served our traditional Japanese dinner....after our trip to the onsen where we got scrubby clean and enjoyed the very warm, restorative water. It was less spa than I would've liked (ie. massage) but it felt so good lounging around in the steaming water. It was a public bath house but with few visitors. You are expected to clean yourself thoroughly before jumping in the water....so you sit on low stools and suds up with soap and shampoo. Naked. No worries. Just wanted to make sure that was clear. Once that is complete you are free to move to the pools of water. I ended up alternating hot and cold (ie. cold from the shower) and it just felt amazing after the long day walking around. So clean.
By the time we returned it was soon time to eat....but not before watching some Japanese TV and synchronized swimming. Who knew the latter could be so rivetting when there's nothing else to watch. It was in Japanese but easier to follow! ;)
The dinner was a rather long affair and consisted of all kinds of fancy little dishes - mainly seafood but we did enjoy yummy bits of beef that we prepared in a hot pot type contraption with a tasty bean paste - brought to us by our hostess. The hostesses were honestly quite graceful and their ability to get up and down, carrying plates, sliding doors shut.....well honestly it just hurt by knees (which by the way were folded under the table...as graceful as I could dressed in one of their traditional robes/ lounge wear). I would've liked a better explanation of the food (ie. what was the white thing wrapped in a leaf that had the same consistency, I would imagine, as an eyeball) and how to eat it but communication skills with our hostesses (or anyone in the hotel for that matter) were quite limited. Lots of bowing, smiling, thank yous....and fortunately Karen has a decent grasp of the niceties needed to successfully manage such exchanges. It was a great experience but you can definitely find the humor in the situation.
After dinner we retired to the porch area while our hostess, a wee bit of a woman, started re-arranging the furniture (ie. table and chairs). She was so wee and did it all kneeling....and I felt weird not helping her.... With the furniture out of the way she slide open on closet, laid out the futon mattresses and proceeded to expertly make, what I was to discover, the coziest futon experience imaginable. We discovered this the moment the woman left. We dove in to the beds, continued watching synchronized swimming....and after 2 hours forced ourselved up and out the door to discover Kyoto at night. It was tough though. The bed was soon forgotten the moment we hit Ponto-cho and discovered all the cool restaurants and bars....many off limits to gaijin (foreigners). Shocking but true. For a tourist area they really keep things locked down. But it was very magical walking down the narrow alley, red lanterns lining the streets and designating the various establishments. Each establishment was decorated quite chic-ly. This look and feel is very similar to Gion (although defintely more intimate) where the geishas are known to entertain the business men - and that area is even more secretive but host to droves more tourists camped outside various establisments waiting for a glimpse of the geisha. The night ended up being a little later than expected....as we toasted the town with a few to many sakes! ;)
Tuesday it was off to Nara - a late start after a leisurely Japanese breakfast (we had to venture out to the communal breakfast hall in our robes...I was worried we'd be the only ones there wearing them but not true. But we were the only visible minority in the room. This was followed by yet another trip to the onsen. Delightful.
We basically bumbled our way to Nara - after many different train connections. It's only 30 minutes away but we managed to drag it out to an hour! ;) All a good laugh though. Nara was a very pleasant experience - nice parks, free-roaming deer, temples....and more tourists. Another pleasant day of walking around and around and around. Our train back to Tokyo wasn't til 7pm so we had time to kill. Sounds bad but true - especially in the cold. We saw the sights we needed to see, ate some lunch (unagii and rice - yummy), walked some more, and basically fell in to our seats the moment the train pulled up - albeit with a McFlurry in hand! (makes no sense - cold weather, cold ice cream?)
I was convinced we'd call it an early night. We arrived in Tokyo around 9:30 and were greeted by Tim at the train station. We walked around in the Maranouchi area (very cool restaurants and bars) before hopping a cab to a belgian bar near their house. Some of their friends joined and before I knew it we were home around 2....and sitting up chatting for a bit longer. It seems to happen every night!!! I'm not complaining - but definitely needed to sleep in until 1:30pm. Honestly that never happens but today was the first. It's going on 3 and I still haven't seen Karen. ;)
Good times, good friends. Approx 4 more days to go.... I wish my trip was continuing. I would like to visit Korea and then perhaps take the Trans-Siberian on my way home.... ;)
