Kyoto: Miscellaneous

Initially I thought we had too much time to kill in Kyoto, but a 4-day stay turned out to be barely scrapping the surface.  There is definitely a chance for a return visit sometime in the future.

As usual, we eschewed the norm in one way or another on this trip, and opted to stay in a 100-year old machiya, instead of a hotel or regular AirBnB-type apartment.

Here's the entrance to our house in a residential neighbourhood.  It's located next to the Imperial Palace, but quite a bit of a walking distance from the nearest subway station, so we relied on taxis.  The 15-minute drive to Kyoto station costs around JPY 1,500 per trip. 

 

The house is set back from the street, at the end of this walkway, and behind the house next door.

The first thing we did each time we get back was to switch on the portable heater and electric rug in the living room.  Insulation is not fantastic, as is expected from a century-year old structure in more or less original condition, but with the portable heaters and thick futon blankets, we were nice and warm at night :)

There was a small courtyard garden, which we never set foot on, because Kyoto beckoned...

Everything was so tiny, but oh-so-cute!

The bedroom upstairs

Dressing up in a kimono and strolling the popular sites of Kyoto is a favourite of tourists and locals alike.  In Gion, the area known for its traditional streets and geisha establishments, we saw many of them in the simpler kimono as well as the full garb of a maiko (apprentice geisha), but were often doubtful if they were the real thing or not.

Here's our tip: a real maiko does not dilly-dally on the streets taking photographs.  She strides purposefully from Point A to Point B, and does not make eye contact with others.  The best time to catch a glimpse of one is to hang out around the many small nondescript side alleys around 5pm-6pm, as they emerge to attend their evening engagements.

This is a real maiko

Another one

I suppose they have been harassed by tourists eager to take their photos often enough to warrant this sign. 

The streets of Gion turn melancholic at night.  The occupants on the main streets are mostly commercial businesses catering to tourists.  But scattered everywhere are featureless and unremarkable yet lived-in buildings that assured you that there is a real, functioning community living here.

Kyoto kaiseki was also on our to-do list.  As Japan's capital for almost 1000 years, Kyoto is the best place to taste refined, aristocratic haute-cuisine.  The emphasis is on seasonal ingredients, and aesthetics of the food as well as the crockery.  We chose Takeshigero which can trace its roots back  300 years, although the current reincarnation was only set up in 1992.

We were whisked away into our private dining room as soon as we relieved ourselves of our grubby footwear at the main entrance.  The whole place is very discreet and all you see are the hosts at the reception and your personal waitress.  The rest of the interior is just a series of corridors and closed doors.  

Our waitress spoke basic English, and with my basic Japanese, we could manage some simple conversation.  She had fond memories of her visit to Malaysia when she was 5 years old :)

For the sukiyaki dish, the chef cooked it in the vestibule of our dining room.  This is also the space for placing used crockery after our waitress cleared them from our table and before taking it out of our room.  I suppose it's to minimise traffic into our dining area and intrusion of our privacy.  Yes, it's all very high-class and ritualised.

We ordered the kids' meal for the kids, because it's not worth spending JPY 20,000 worth of haute-cuisine on them.  But they loved their bento and jumped on it immediately after they were served. 

This was the appetiser of snow crab, Mizuna greens with citrus-vinegar chestnuts

Nara, Uji & Kyoto: Deers, Phoenixes and Foxes

We took a break from Kyoto to go to see Nara, which was the capital of Japan for the most part of the 8th century.  Nara has its own string of UNESCO World Heritage Sites but we only managed to see one, Todaiji, since we only had half a day there.  After taking the express train from Kyoto (and getting flattened again in the morning commute), we took a 10-minute ride on the local tourist loop bus to reach Nara Park.  Our reward for suffering the morning peak hour commute was a place clear of other tourists and the usual din.  

Which also meant that the deers were single-mindedly focused on *us*.  <gulp>

Besides being known as Japan's first permanent capital and for its ancient temples, Nara is also famous for the wild deers that roamed the grounds of its central park.  I thought it would be a fun activity for the kids to feed the deers and happily bought two packets of rice crackers for JPY 150 each.  The drama started as soon as the seller handed over those crackers.  

They chased us, butted us, and even bit pieces of my bag and scarf.  I could not help but squeal several times.  (As a rule, I do not squeal in public).  Even YL was intimidated.  

And I thought that Japanese deers would be the epitome of gentleness and patience...

Warning signs that the deers may kick, butt or bite.  All of which they did to the kids, as they were demonstrating here in this picture.

I think the kids were never so happy to enter another temple, because we got to leave those thuggish  deers behind.

Question: Why don't the deers harass the rice cracker sellers? They can get a whole days' worth of food from someone who is stationed in the same spot all day, everyday.  Hmmm...

We had a delightful Japanese tour guide who gave us a 20-minute orientation of the grounds of the temple and its history.  She was also an expert on the best spots to pose and at taking good pictures.  Trust us, this is not always a given skill with guides or even those with fancy SLR cameras.  

This is one of a handful of family photos we took on the entire trip that did not involve us being scattered all around (to fit into the camera when using it in selfie-mode) or having a missing arm (selfie stick method).

At many popular Japanese tourist spots, there are volunteer guides who offer free guided tours to tourists.  They are often retirees or homemakers with time and language skills to spare.  During our first tour last year, we tried to offer a small tip to the guide, and she looked genuinely offended.  So  we learned to just accept and appreciate this service as one of the perks of travel in Japan :)   

By the way, the golden "horns" you see at the top of traditional Japanese temples are fish tails to represent the element of water to counter these wooden buildings' greatest threat, fire.

  

Todaiji is an impressive temple because of its austere and natural simplicity.  I say this despite having seen several notable temples in the past few days in Kyoto.  Its main hall, Daibutsuden (Big Buddha Hall), has the distinction of being the world's largest wooden building, even though it was rebuilt in the 17th century only to 2/3 of its original 8th-century size.  During its heyday, the temple was influential even in political affairs.

The Big Buddha, whose palm is the height of a human being.

This hole in the wooden beam is said to be the size of Buddha's nostrils.  If you can squeeze through it without any help, you will gain enlightenment in the next life.  There were some adults who were stuck and need to be pulled through.

Any chance of a mini enlightenment in this life for these two? Just knowing when to stop playing on the computer or watching TV will be good enough, please....

I told the kids they can pray to Buddha for something they really want.  Sophie prayed for good results next year for her PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination), and Ju prayed for a bathtub in his house when he grows up.  I think the secret to happiness in life is being contented with the simple joys of life, don't you think?

On the way back to Kyoto, we stopped over at the town of Uji, known as a center of tea production and as the setting for the last 10 chapters of Genji Monotagari (Tale of Genji), sometimes called the world's first novel.

It's also where Byodoin is located.  The temple's most significant feature is the Phoenix Hall, pictured here and found on the back of the JPY 10 coin.  You can see 2 golden phoenixes (reproductions) on its roof. 

The temple was not as packed as those in Kyoto, being somewhat off the beaten tourist path, but there were still groups of Japanese schoolchildren visiting when we were there.  It was small enough to appreciate, quiet enough to reflect, and pretty enough for a pleasant stroll.  I recommend visiting the small museum here as the exhibits were very nicely exhibited and illuminated, though English descriptions were not found for all displays.  

One way to keep a souvenir of all the temples and shrines visited is to obtain a go-shuin from each.  Originally used by pilgrims as they made their rounds to the important religious sites, the go-shuin includes a seal in vermillion ink, and handwritten calligraphy in a special album.  You can purchase the album at most temples for JPY 1500-2000 each, and each temple have its own designs that reflects its unique features.  Since it's high tourist season, some of the temples we visited had pre-printed, pre-written go-shuin, which you can paste in your album, but I much prefer the ones written directly onto the album, as they seem more personal.  

Most temples will provide a go-shuin for a JPY 500 donation.

The calligrapher putting down her strokes for Phoenix Hall.  When there is high volume, you would leave your album with the go-shuin office, and receive a numbered tag in return, which you use to collect your album after 15-30 minutes.

My collection of go-shuin from this trip.  The album was purchased from Kinkakuji, with a golden embossed picture of the golden phoenix found on the roof of the Golden Pavilion.

After the calligraphy is done, a slip of blotting paper is placed on the page to prevent smearing.  This one at the Eikan-do shows the Looking-Back Buddha.  See story here.

On the way to the Byodo-in, one would inevitably drop in to check out one or more of the numerous tea shops for free tea-tasting, or buy tea-themed snacks along the street leading up to the temple.  

We also had matcha-flavoured soba along the river.  

And checked out the statue of Murasaki Shikibu, the author of Genji Monogatari.  She was a court lady who told the story of Genji and his amorous pursuits, political intrigues and the lifestyles of the nobility in the Heian court to other court ladies.  Written in an aristocratic language and in the Japanese indigenous kana script (as opposed to the Chinese kanji which reduces the erroneous reading of homophones), it was indecipherable just a century after it was written, and so various interpretations of the novel have made their rounds in the literary circle.   

Back in Kyoto, we ended the day with a visit to its most recognised landmark, Fushimi Inari.  The Shinto shrine is dedicated to Inari, the god of rice, and as foxes are thought to be his messengers, you will find statues of foxes and other fox-themed paraphernalia and dishes in the area.      

The shrine is open 24/7 so go early in the morning if you want to take some nice tourist-free shots. 

The shrine is known for its thousand of vermillion torii gates erected by businesses and individuals, whose names and dates of construction are inscribed on the columns.  A torii gate marks the entrance to a shrine and a sacred place.  

There are two rows of densely packed torii gates which create a tunnel of red for those passing underneath

And there are m-a-n-y who want to pass underneath

It's an exercise in patience to get a clear shot

It's easier to get off the path 

In case you're interested in erecting one of your own torii gate, here are the rates, though I read somewhere that you have to wait till one of the existing ones are removed

Kyoto: Early Birds, Wise Owls, and Lost Chickens

After the headache-inducing experience of duelling with crowds in the past couple of days, I decided to beat them by getting to the hot spots as early as possible.  And no where in Kyoto is a hotter spot than Kiyomizudera (well, just maybe Fushimi Inari - see next post).  So by stomping around the house at 6am and eventually dumping the grumpy kids and husband into a taxi just shy of 7am, we succeeded at reaching *the* lookout point just after 7:30am.  Woohoo!

The wooden stage juts out of the main hall, 13 metres above the ground.  Both the stage and main hall were built without the use of any nails.  The lookout point gives a fine view of Kyoto city and the surrounding hills.  We were there at the tail-end of the autumn foliage season, but it was still awash in hues of reds. 

Yaay, no crowds! Just another hour or two later, and there will hardly be enough walking space over there.  There are just not many mommies out there who have the courage to rouse their sleeping families at the break of dawn to visit a temple during a holiday...kekekeke 

Kiyomizudera, literally Pure Water Temple, took its name from the Otowa Waterfalls in the wooded hills of eastern Kyoto, near the Higashiyama district.  

The waterfalls can be found at the base of the main hall.  Its waters are divided into 3 streams, and visitors can use long ladles to drink from them.  Each stream is said to have a different benefit, i.e. academic success (left stream), love life (middle) and health (right stream).  Drinking from all three won't grant you any.

When we got up there, we had no idea which stream was for what, so we all ended up drinking for academic success (or it could have been health, depending on how you look at it).  Both are fine blessings, but Sophie was hoping for academic success for her national exams next year.

Being early also guaranteed my go-shuin (temple seal/stamp) from a "live" calligrapher/priest.  More on that in the next post. 

The streets leading up to the temple were just starting to fill up with tourists as we started to leave.

After a nice breakfast, we headed back to the house for a morning nap, and ventured forth again in the afternoon, this time to the Philosopher's Path (Tetsugaku no michi).  The 1-km walk along a canal lined with cherry blossom trees stretches from Ginkakuji (The Silver Pavilion) in the north to Nanzenji in the south.  

You are bound to come across something interesting: 

From bears out fishing in the pleasant weather,

to kimono-clad girls out for a stroll with their selfie sticks,

to watercolour artists painting the canal scene (he uses Schminke!), 

to small shops selling all forms and manners of souvenirs and "cute things that you want to buy but don't have a use for", to quote our wise Sophie.  Grudgingly agreeing with this indisputable nugget of wisdom, I refrained from buying anything,  

except for a bag of hot chestnuts for all to share and snack on >:(

Once we reached the end of the path at Eikan-do, we were quickly overwhelmed (again) by the crowds queueing to get in, though that moved relatively quick.  The temple is not listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but I highly recommend it for autumn colours.  The leaves there were much more intense in flaming reds and oranges, dazzling the eyes.  

But this is what you have to tussle with to get a shot of the above.

Even though the temple is not listed, it is still a venerable institution, having been founded around the 9th century, and  made into the current headquarters of the Jodo Seizan Zenrin-ji sect since the 12th century.  

Eikan-do is famous for its "looking back" Buddha.  The story goes that in the early hours of 15 February, 1082 (I'm impressed how precise they can get with something that happened more than 900 years ago), in the freezing cold of the morning, the then chief priest, the Abbot Eikan, while reciting the Nembutsu sutra, was walking around a statue of Amida Buddha.  As dawn as breaking, Amida came down from his pedestal, and began walking away, beckoning to Eikan.  When Eikan did not comply due to shock, Amida looked back and called to him in a soft voice, "Eikan! Come with me!".  

This was also the site where, as Sophie called it, "Mont St-Michel Part II" took place.  See here for Part I.   The Doctor had assured me that it was fine to split up because we both had roaming data and can keep in touch with WhatsApp this time, unlike our previous trips. When Sophie and I split up with the boys to get my go-shuin inside the temple while they remained in the gardens, that was also the implied plan.  

Feeling strange that there were no "hurry up!", "where are you?", "are you done?" messages after half an hour, we emerged from the buildings into the gardens to find many, many people still wandering about,....but no Doctor and no son or brother in sight.  

After frantically searching, calling, even using the Find my iPhone feature, but getting nothing in return (theft? accident? alien abduction? distracted by kimono girls?), we finally had no choice but to leave the complex when they announced the closing.  As we reluctantly approached the exit,  I noticed the bright scalp and energetic wave of a set of familiar arms from amongst the crowd outside. He blamed it on the defect in the iPhone 6 batteries which shut down his phone despite it being adequately charged.  

This was the last place I saw my husband and son.  Sophie and I finally reunited with them 1.5 hours later, after 1 hour of searching.