Intensive Tourism

So...it was soba noodles with Kouichi and Louise on Friday night...oishi (delicious) and some tasty Asahi beer too. 

Saturday morning dawned a little wet but the skies were gently brightening by the time we visited the Bhuddist silver temple, Higashiyama Jisho-ji - also nicknamed the Moss Temple because of its greened garden; it looked perfect adorned with droplets of water and the verdancy was even better under the grey skies. There was silvery raked gravel, zen-style, and textured rocks and bark abounded.Temple gardens are mini landscapes and you're taken on a proscribed walk past carefully managed trees, micro waterfalls and, generally, up to a viewpoint where you can marvel at the building from above.

For me, Japan is the land of patterns - you see them everywhere and the temptation is to be constantly behind the camera, netting them. It's also the land of consumerism so, having had an aesthetic fix of beautiful garden and architecture you can then treat yourself to some sweets or omiyage (souvenirs) which are always  presented beautifully.

Lou and Kouichi bought packets of mochi Kyoto-style; some for family and some for Kouichi's employees. It's a bit hard to describe but mochi is made from rice - it's a kind of glutinous paste that can be rolled out - similar to stretchy pancake - and then filled with different fillings. a favourite combination is green tea flavoured mochi stuffed with red bean paste. An acquired taste...but one that grows on you. My fave is cinnamon flavoured mochi.

Then it was off to Fushimi Inari Taisha... A Shinto shrine, famed for its thousands of orange 'gates'. 

These bright archways straddle several walkways, some of which lead up to Mount Inari -a sacred 
spot to the Japanese. Inari is the god of rice, depicted as a fox, and statues of the animal are scattered around the shrine grounds. It was a feast of colour and there were plenty of Japanese all dressed up in sumptuous robes to add to the photo opportunities....

Lunch was in a little place nearby, the usual great flavours, and Lou's soba had added aburaage (fried tofu, a Kyoto specialty - meant to be a favourite food of foxes!) but you can't usually find a sweet 

dessert in the same place you eat your savouries. In search of a pud we found a rather good coffee shop. Japanese pastries are surprisingly good; I kid myself they're lighter interpretations of French patisserie. 

By then we were temple and shrined-out and the time changes were catching up with Kate,Roger and me...so it was back to the hotel for a rest.

Surprisingly, I recovered enough to go out in the evening with Louise and Kouichi, grazing on rather delicious snacks at izikaya - which are like tapas bars - and culminating in karaoke. I slaughtered a version of The Beatles' Norwegian Wood but the clientele were very kind. We all encouraged each other madly and I particularly appreciated an older Japanese gent's interpretation of some Perry Como standards. He wanted to duet with me - but I pleaded jet lag (!) Louise did a stonking Janis Joplin version of Summertime and then sang with Kouichi in Japanese - after he'd delivered a fine rendition of the very first Japanese rap song.....

I made it to bed after midnight, feeling like Longworth was indeed many miles away...

Sunday was meant to be sunny and warm but it actually didn't turn out that way. A shame we didn't have the brightness for our visit to the Golden temple -Kinkaku-ji-  but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Being a weekend it was pretty full of visitors - not that you'd realise that from the photos; the viewpoints are nicely arranged to allow a serene image...

And for balance, we went on to lunch and sampled a great selection of okonomiyaki - Japanese fast food at its best. It's a kind of pancake batter filled with vegetables, sometimes meat or seafood, and topped with piquant sauce and tuna flakes. Sort of bubble and squeak on steroids....totally more-ish. They're served on hotplates at the table and you carve slices like pizza. Fortified, we wandered the adjacent Nishiki market and marvelled at pickles, meats, sweets and every other sort of comestible and consumable...

Lou and Kouichi had to get back to Nagoya but dropped us off at church before they left. We'd found the Kyoto International Church on the Internet and it turned out to be on the 6th floor of a building downtown. Christian churches are very thin on the ground - certainly Japanese people aren't hostile to Christianity but it's viewed rather as a 'western religion' not particularly relevant to their culture. Pastor Tomo gave us a stirring address about evangelising the message of hope - which was simultaneously translated into Japanese at short intervals to reach the mixed congregation of Ozzies, English, Americans, Japanese and Chinese. As we left to find our own way back to our hotel we were helped on out way by a Japanese lady from the church - Mariko - who turned out to have lived in Cambridge for a while. She guided us through the subway system (different private lines needing different tickets) and gave us the all important business card with the name of the guest house she runs in Kyoto...so maybe next time?

After an intensive tourist weekend, it was good to get back to the Sakura Terrace and relax with our (free!) evening drink...and retire early, ready for our departure in the morning.