Hiya! Just some ordinary stuff! I am miraculously mostly packed to move on tomorrow. Booked on the Shinkansen to go to Nagasaki!
Above… me with a bag of my favourite donuts… Mister Donuts!!
Maureen left yesterday… twas a 4:30am start for us so I was a tad tired by days end! Anyway, Maureen is home safe. Above photo is her and Mikiko wrestling to get her suitcase shut!
Amused me… and maybe will amuse other Star Wars fans…
Mari loaned me her bike!!
Was so fun zooming about Kyoto on it when I had the chance!
Didn’t even crash LOL
A selection of our favourite sauce on its way home along with Jeff’s favourite drink, calpis!
Making good use of the bike by finding my favourite fast food… Mos Burger! Park out front…
Mmmm teriyaki chicken burger and chips!
Mari helped me order my super cool goat logo as a stamp!
So excited about this!!
Friends took me back to my favourite camera shop where I picked up a new lens and also a new camera!! A lighter one for hiking!
A sample of the shops near here so you understand how irrisistible shopping is! The cool artworks you see are on box lids. Below those and in following picture are samples of box contents. So… you choose a box with either tea, notepaper, hankies, cup, chopstick rests, sweets etc. Choose a lid…
And the grand finale is to choose your wrapping paper and a sticker! So. Much. Fun!
i better get some sleep! I need to haul a decent amount of luggage into the main station in the morning so I need to recharge my inner energy batteries! Will leave you with a selfie of me on today’s hike!
Hey there! Been super busy here always something happening… so I am not running out of stories…just time/energy at the end of each day to upload and write!! I might skimp on details here as I have a 5am start tomorrow!!! Sob.
Last week Maureen and I went off and visited Fushimi Inari.
It’s such a stunning place…and so popular with the tourists of course!
I just love the colour.
We got treated to a ceremony… no pictures allowed.
And moved along with the throng of people through the tori.
This is just mostly going to be a sea of red photos… we are up early tomorrow because Maureen’s flight home is booked for tomorrow morning so I am taking her to the airport to make sure she gets there safely in time. I plan to meet up with friends in Osaka for the remainder of the day.
A brief lull and a photo opportunity!!
Hello…its me!
When you look back you can see all the names of businesses that have sponsored that particular tori etched into it. This is supposed to be a shrine of prosperity.
Me again…
Gosh! No people!
Sneaking a look out the side.
Going off the beaten path for a bit
There are always cats around here!
I do love the bushels of origami cranes found up here.
Even bottles of tiny ones!
It was such a nice morning out and an excellent walk. We even got home a bit earlier that day and enjoyed a bit of a rest!!
Yesterday I abandoned Maureen (who had a perfectly lovely day in our local area now she is confident enough to get out on her own and explore and shop!!)
I went to meet Master and his family… you will remember young Jin who came to visit in Jan/Feb. (His Sister Meiru was busy yesterday.)
Master owned a small local pub (an Izakaya) called Hitsuji when I was living in Japan. I loved going down there to treat myself to dinner.
We started off in Nara where they picked me up and then drove to a park via my old school where I lived and the izakaya which is now an Italian restaurant!!
They picked up a pre made order from a sandwich shop then selected a place to sit and enjoy!
Holy Cats look at the size of that sandwich!!! That’s for one person!!
Yoshiko with one of her sandwiches! Comes in a neat little boat of paper to eat it in without making too much mess!
Once we were stuffed full of amazing sandwich we took a walk through the park.
This was a pretty area, but it would have been stunning with the cherry blossoms and tulips out!
Some senior citizen groups made their own display garden patches too.
From nature to not nature… we had a booking at an Izakaya in Tenoji, Osaka but before the scheduled time we wandered about in the overwhelmingly coloured street with sideshow carnival like shops and noise.
I’m just going to hit you with it… no need for me to say anything…it’s all pretty visual!
There is a slide down the side of the tower….see on right side in below pic.
You can even have a go at some archery if you want!
And then it was back out to some sensible coloured high rises!!
And on to the grand finale of the day with our dinner!
The atmosphere here was so energetic and noisy – but great fun!
Luckily I didn’t have to worry about ordering… left that in Masters capable hands.
All dishes come out one by one and we all share which is awesome as you get lots of great taste experiences.
The above plate had some Korean style noodles, slices of sweet potato and a pumpkin mash. All SO tasty!
A Ceasar salad
Sashimi.. raw fish that you dip in soy. Not a usual dish for me but it was really nice!!
Chicken with a creamy mayonnaise sauce…divine!
Chicken skewers…leg, breast, heart, stomach…?? Can’t remember the other one. But the ones I had were really simple and tasty.
Stopping for a fun people shot in among the food!
And don’t you love the plates??
This was also divine… kind of an olive oil base.. you dipped the bread in and added the prawns,tomato and broccoli on top!
Wait… there’s more!!! (Where is all this going you ask especially after that massive sandwich at lunch!!!!) (I asked this many times to myself but I soldiered on heroically)
Jellyfish! Because why not?? It wasn’t bad…the texture was a little weird to me. Kind of a mix between crunchy and rubbery if that’s even possible!!
Before you laugh… these aren’t your ordinary chips! They came in a bag and then you added the savoury powder to shake them up in. The seasoning was butter – soy!!! I don’t know how that’s achieved but they were fabulous.
These were several chicken dishes with different flavours… I had half the cheese one…some were spicy and one had to be dipped in the raw egg. And isn’t that plate cool?
And because you have a different stomach pocket for dessert… we had dessert!!! Jin had a kind of fried naan with ice cream, Yoshiko had ice cream,
I had a luuurevely choccie cake and ice cream and Master, like a seasoned pub owner, had his fifth beer and was as steady as a rock!!!
(Pub door handle)
All in all it was an amazing proper Japanese experience and I loved seeing my friends again. They are always so kind and welcoming when I drop back into Japan!
Today we went into central Kyoto and walked to Toji Temple where they hold a massive market on the 21st of each month.
When I say massive… I mean it. Around 1000 stalls!!! It bewilderingly big!
There are a lot of antique stalls with ceramics and heaps of second hand kimonos and fabric.
Lots of wonderful plants.
They had a lot of new ceramic stalls, craft stalls, jewellry and clothes.
Heaps of food stalls of course.
I set Maureen loose and by the time I found her again she needed a loan!!!
Last purchase of the day, a swish new coat which she plans to wear at markets!
I thought I had covered most of the area, then found two new areas to investigate!
Over a small pond.
At this point a stall holder had come running up to me. I’d just bought a couple of lovely hand woven items from her. She was waving about a couple of hundred yen… I finally sorted out what she was saying. Apparently she had short changed me by accident (about two bucks) and was SO embarrassed and apologetic. I think I reassured her enough that I wasn’t upset … I hadn’t noticed. On the whole Japanese people are painstakingly honest so I never double check. She was so sweet!
I found Maureen again at a fountain where we had planned to meet when we were done. She had been there a short while and the local ladies kept coming up to chat and feed her sweets!!
I bought the above iron teapot in Osaka the other day… I’ve always wanted one!
Today I found two more!! Much older ones! One is tiny and so cute!
The last thing I bought was some market food which we brought home with us so we could collapse in comfort and eat up and generally have a quiet afternoon!
And then we did Show And Tell with all our new treasures and lament about future packing problems!
Tonight it’s a continuation of the sights seen on our drive in the country.
Mari scheduled in coffee and cake at a quirky place full of interesting hand made articles with an outdoor nursery!
We each chose a different cake – and sampled each others.
They were all delicious and beautifully presented.
There was a viewing platform attached where you could sit and have coffee… or relax.
The steps up were treehouse like!
Next was a walk down an old street.
I didn’t catch the name and I am too lazy right now to heave myself back up off the floor to find the information sheet I was given…
We will just have to enjoy the aesthetics of it all without the background information!
I love the potted plants squeezed into the front here.
Traditional kitchen!
Nearing the end of our day, we swung by a shrine in a famous area for saki.
There was a small showroom/museum.
They have a big festival every year through the streets carrying a shrine.
I would imagine there would be some drinking too!
Love all the labels and old advertising posters!
This shrine is also popular at this time of year for the beautiful flower ‘yamabuki’ which is in spectacular form!
Picturesque!!
Giving the turtle a pat to bring good health.
Fortunes!
You buy a fortune from the shrine. If it’s a good one, you keep it. If it’s not so great you tie it to the rack provided and ask the God’s to spirit away the bad fortune.
I really liked these fish swimming up the mossy rock!
Saki barrels!!!
All empty though! I love the artwork on each barrel.
Anyway, I need some shut eye as tomorrow we plan on finding a nice big temple market in the morning!!!
Back to our day out with Mari and Koichi… they drove us to this really interesting thatched village in Miyama.
39 thatched roofed farmhouses have been carefully preserved as a cultural heritage site and is home to a population of around 3600 people. Most of these buildings have survived from the 19th century.
All roads are mostly for people to walk on without cars. (No tourist cars anyway)
Again a lovely peaceful place to walk around and admire.
Lots of gardens and fields are being prepared for spring planting.
Everything was so picturesque.
I liked seeing the gardens.
The fences are to keep out deer and wild boar.
We found ‘The Little Indigo Museum’ which was a place where a family still made the traditional Indigo dyed materials.
We met Hiroyuki Shindo who took up the art in the 1960’s.
He took the time to chat to us which was lovely. Apparently his son has taken on the art now. He also has a great little museum of Indigo dyed fabrics in the attic of his thatched house!
Following is copied from a printout he gave me which I thought was interesting to share.
The Japanese Indigo Tradition and My Work – Hiroyuki Shindo.
I first met Indigo when I was student of Kyoto University of Fine Art in the 60’s. I just happened to go to a field trip to a traditional Indigo dye house in Shiga Prefecture where I saw Indigo dyeing done the traditional way. I was terribly shocked to hear an elderly artisan say “with my generation a tradition that has been handed down for four generations will come to an end.”
At that time not only did the artisan’s son refuse to continue the tradition but finding other young people to take on this old fashioned and troublesome work was next to impossible. It saddened me to realise this traditional craft was disappearing from Japan.
I returned many times to the dye house to study the fermentation and dyeing technique. The more I studied the more fascinated I became with indigo.
Today we are profiting from chemical developments, living a life of ease. But environmental destruction is the other side of this development. One reason that I have been able to continue this work for more than half a century is that indigo does not damage the environment and is completely recyclable.
It is a traditional Japanese value to live as one with nature. I hold this value close to my heart – Hiroyuki Shindo.
Hello!! Skipping forward to last night’s little adventure with Mari. There was a chanting ceremony at a nearby temple so we decided to walk on over to check it out. Maureen stayed home to rest after our busy day.
Mari found a great spot to have some dinner as we were early for the event.
I love tonkatsu!!
We decided against the bus. I did have my sturdy heels on but thought I would be ok. Wanted to look slightly nicer than my grotty hiking shoes.
Chion-in temple looked amazing lit up at night. But the line to go in was really long so Mari decided to try to sneak into the back way to check it out but….the security guard caught us!! He politely directed us back down apologising to us the whole time!!!!
So…we went on a random night walk.
It’s amazing what you just come across walking around.
I think this is Yakushiji.
Everything looks so much better and more dramatic at night.
see the lantern top row, third black writing back from the right? That’s the sign for Koichis traditional shoe shop that is in Gion!!
I am going to have to drag Maureen along here one evening when we are not too tired… although Mari has told me what bus to get so there is less walking. (Plus wearing the heels wasn’t my greatest life choices yesterday but I soldiered on!!!)
And to finish up we walked through the Gion district which is so old and traditional!! We came across a couple of Maiko (Geisha)!!! I got some terrible photos but I didn’t want to be all fan-girl and rude so didn’t get all close and obvious. I’ll post them below anyway!
Good evening! Another short story on our day in the country!
Mari and Koichi took us to this interesting place that served Udon with hand made soba noodles!!
I got mine in a hot broth (as did Mari and Maureen) but Koichi had his cold.
When you eat them cold you just dip them into the side sauce as you go.
And you need to do lots of slurping! (They were SO GOOD)
The building was built by the owner and has many interesting features. Like the different natural colourings used on the walls.
The amazing slab of wood tabletop (ummm husband dearest… we have one of these in our carport… do you think you could…???)
The inner workings of the wall exposed.
And outside there was an example of each layer of the rendered wall from the inner structure on the right to the finished product on the left.
Out the back in a small bathhouse was an old iron bath!
Outside of the bathhouse was the fireplace where the bath was heated from! Usually the bath has a wooden rack at bottom…so you don’t burn yours! Actually a long time ago I got the chance to bathe in one of these! So nice!!
Woven slippers! Next project for me??
Better get to bed…big day planned in Osaka tomorrow!
Good evening! Another lovely day of sightseeing done.
A little story from yesterday.
The material above I bought for Jeff along with a couple of others. My clever Mum has said she will make them into scrubs for him. We’ve always been taken with these characters but didn’t know much about them.
When we went to the craft market the other day I spotted this fabulous bag that was exactly right for days out here…
Then by chance on our driving day out with my friends they realised I loved these characters and we drove right past the temple where the monk who drew them resided!!! (A very very long time ago!!!)
Up we go into the cool green forest.
Then on a small hut I could see the characters.
Chouju-jinbutsu-giga. “Scrolls of frolicking animals”
It’s said that the monk, Toba Sojo was the artist but it can’t be said for sure…it was all so very long ago.
The temple is Kosan-ji and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site!!
It was founded in 1206!
There were no photos allowed inside the building but it was ok to take them on the outside. The scroll replicas in the temple are so beautiful… of course the original ones are housed in safer museums.
The temple is nestled in the mountains and the views from the verandas that surround the temple are serene.
I love the way the temple has sliding doors that essentially opens up entire rooms to the outside.
Another interesting fact about this temple is that it also is the site of Japan’s oldest tea field! They also serve green tea here if you would like.
Hi! I am going to be hard pressed to keep up blogging with the pace of sightseeing! We had an amazing day out today but I better finish yesterday’s adventure.
From Ginkakuji, we veered away from the main area to walk down the side of the stream under green leafy trees to some lesser visited shrines.
It was so much quieter here.
The fallen Camelia flowers in the rain added a nice touch.
I didn’t really know where we were going so we just followed our noses.
Everything looks nicer in the rain.
Such a nice entrance.
It was so peaceful here. I think this was Honen-in temple.
Maureen still having a wow of a time!
I like the way someone added the flowers to the lip of the fountain.
I know nothing really about this place, it was just nice to wander about and enjoy.
I seem to have discovered another excellent example of a wisteria trellis.
Lovely weathered stone lanterns.
We sat on the temple steps for a short while to rest and enjoy the serenity.
And from there, we retraced our steps to catch a bus home to dry out and rest for the evening!
