Day 7 - Funny Translations!

Wednesday morning, after a larger than normal amount of sleep, we decided to head right back to Tokyo after breakfast, so we packed up our things, said our farewells to Hase, who kindly hosted us in Kyoto, and made our way to the Kyoto station and the Shinkansen. Remember how i mentioned just how great the Japanese rail system is? Well, when Yasu purchased our tickets for the Shinkansen, he bought them with the fare that would take us straight back to Kichijoji station by our hotel in Tokyo. Talk about streamlining! So, we bought some bento boxes and hit the platform to hitch our ride back to Tokyo. After some blogging, some photo editing, lunch, and a little nap, we finally arrived back in Kichijoji for the afternoon.

Following our return to Tokyo, our time was really lovely, but also less than exciting as far as coming up with things to write about. Mostly we spent the next three days walking around town, shopping, laughing, and enjoying each other's company. Like I said, our time was lovely. Nonetheless, this seems like the perfect time to post my "collection of ridiculously worded things" posted or shown around Tokyo, Arima, and Kyoto. These translations and signs are pretty hilarious and ridiculous from an English-speaker's standpoint. Can I get an editor please?

I just kept thinking about Doritos when I saw this on our menu at Soybean Farm

This man, bless his heart (and I mean this in the most southern way possible), was riding the train and walking around with a hat that says "Lubricants" on it. 
Unfortunately because I was creeping over Yasu, I couldn't get a clearer picture, but.....yeah.

They're having some punctuation issues at the bakery.....

Say it, it's fun. 

(From the drink menu at the hotel lounge in Arima)

Spell check!

This is a tupperware lunchbox thing, but I just don't really get what they are trying to say here...

um.............

It was a good one, but I will not be walking around carrying this tote bag. 

Day 6 - kyoto!

We woke up early on Tuesday morning to start our adventures around Kyoto. Throughout the day, we visited several beautiful temples, shrines, and landmarks, and I also finally put my Nikon camera to good use. I’ll let my best photos tell most of the story for today, but I’ll also add that I was especially grateful for Yasu today. Despite Kyoto being one of the most “touristy” cities in the country, the availability of English explanations of the landmarks was very limited. So, Yasu provided as much information as he could. Granted, some of that info went a little like, “this was built for some really famous people,” but ya know, it was a whole lot better for me than a bunch of Japanese text. It was on this excursion in Kyoto that I realized the true need for people to use travel books while touring countries where they do not speak the language at all.

First stop: Kiyomizu Temple, where I was most struck by the vibrant colors and geometric patterns. So much beauty here!

Our next stop was to Ryozen Kannon, a war memorial, and shrine to love and relationships <3

aaaaaand, we got photobombed.

After leaving our sites in Higashiyama, we decided to hire a rickshaw for a 45-minute tour of other parts of Kyoto. Again, Yasu had to translate for me, but we had a great time. Our rickshaw runner seriously impressed me with his ability to move the rickshaw—he was literally running and pulling Yasu and me on the cart. The guy has some muscles! Part of the tour involved him taking us to some of the most beautiful and well known sites in Kyoto so that he could take our picture just right—the guy sure knew how to use an iPhone, as the pictures even came with filters added! On the tour of the city, the driver also took us to the Gion district where we saw the geisha’s homes called okiya as well as the school where girls learn the geisha trade. We definitely found our tour to be quite enjoyable, and it gave our legs a nice rest while showing us around the other parts of Kyoto that we had wanted to see.

Us with our rickshaw and driver!

At Shirakawa, by the geisha teahouses

our view

By the Tower of Yasaka, at the left of the photo

After the tour, we hit up Starbucks for a bit of a warm up, as the wind had really picked up during our rickshaw ride. I got to try a Sakura Cherry Blossom steamer, which I’d say is about the equivalent to a pumpkin spice latte—it’s a seasonal drink, only available around sakura, or cherry blossom, season. Holy cow, it was sweet, but it was also quite delicious, and despite its lack of caffeine, I’m glad I gave it a shot!

We spent a couple more hours walking around Kyoto’s shopping district before heading back to the hotel for a while. After watching a movie that we’d downloaded on Yasu’s laptop (iTunes movie rentals are GREAT for traveling when there’s no wifi), we decided we really didn’t want to go back out that night. So, yasu walked a couple blocks to the nearest McDonalds for our deliciously nutritious dinner. Aside from my coke and fries, I had a teriyaki burger that was oh so delicious, while yasu enjoyed a shrimp burger. We’d be lying if we said that hitting up McDonalds was not on our must-do list for this trip!

All I really ever wanted....kind of :)

After so much touring, travel, and family time, I think we were both pretty exhausted, so spending a night in with a movie and some comfort food really was the perfect way for us to spend our night! Oh, and the teriyaki burger did NOT disappoint.

Arima Hot Springs to Kyoto : Pictures

One last shot in Arima, right before getting onto the bus...

And the stay in Kyoto.

Kyoto stay started with the Sake tour in the town on Fushimi.  This picture was taken at the Chushojima station.

Off to the tourist spots.
First stop: Kiyomizu temple (清水寺)

Then to the Kodaiji (高台寺)

Technically, this is not in Kodaiji... but I don't know the name, and it's right next to the place...

And my camera had no more battery... Wish I had taken more pictures from Kyoto, but after this, we went on Rickshaw ride to explore the town of Gion (祇園) 

Day 5 - a lots of eating and drinking!

When we left Arima, we headed straight for our sake tour in a tiny area of the Kyoto prefecture called Fushimi. We arrived early to Fushimi, which was a little "hood-like" to begin, and wandered in search of coffee. This would be generally silly to post, but the little kitchen restaurant we stumbled into smelled JUST like my Grandma LaHaye's house, and it felt a little like her kitchen, too. We ordered coffee and a ham sandwich, so the restaurant owner literally went to the toaster oven behind the bar and made our sandwich right there. Silly, I tell you!

The sake tour was led by Jason of JD Kai tours, and we lucked out by having a personal tour, as the three other people scheduled never showed up for the tour! I’m so glad we did the tour at the recommendation of my college friend, Megan, as it was extremely well done, and we learned quite a bit about Sake. Jason has lived in Japan for most of his adult life, and Fushimi is his neighborhood, so the tour highlights areas and shops he knows well. Fushimi is home to about 20 sake breweries, so the tour highlighted several types of good sake from the area, which we tasted mostly at little liquor stores, as well as a tour around a sake museum run by Gekkeikan, which could be called the Budweiser of Sake. At the museum Jason ran us through the process of brewing sake, beginning with milling the rice and ending with the beverage. It’s pretty impressive learning about how the brewing is done, and on tours like this, I just wish the guide could tell me how they came up with the idea in the first place! I mean, really, who thinks to turn rice into booze and actually figures out how to do it!? The only unfortunate part of the tour was that we learned that we probably wouldn’t be able to get some of the best sakes in the US due to the fact that our favorite ones were Unfiltered, Unpasteurized, and Undiluted (no water added), but liquids really need to be pasteurized for sale in the US. I guess we’ll just have to come back to Japan to get our fix!

I'm also silly and didn't take any pictures on the tour, besides this one at our very first stop. the brown ball hanging from the storefront is made from cedar, and it's hung to show that sake is for sale in this shop. Fortunately, Yasu shot a few more pictures than I did, so he'll post those later.

With a little buzz, we made our way from Fushimi to Kyoto proper where after a little rest in our hotel room, we met Yasu’s friend Hase for an amazing dinner. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch the name of the restaurant, but, as with many restaurants in Japan, we sat at a counter and ate, watching the chefs prepare our food right in front of us. Though the counter arrangement is a “design choice made due to lack of space” (according to Yasu), it makes for a really unique and interesting dining experience, allowing you to watch the chefs at work while interacting with them at the same time. It’s pretty exciting. Also exciting was the chef’s menu—holy amazing! This meal was several courses decided by the chef, each of which was amazing. From sashimi to tofu in a green vegetable broth to tempura fried vegetables to the two strawberries served for dessert, every bite was incredible.

I will never turn down a course of sashimi!

Tempura fried vegetables

These chopsticks were FINE. like....I probably could've knit a sweater with them.

A pickled mackerel sandwich. This was ordered for us by a rather sleezy older man who sat a few seats down for us, and said that the white girl HAD to try it because she couldn't get it anywhere else. I tried it quite willingly, not realizing that the pickled mackerel was the only thing I really hated from our japanese style new year's dinner that Yasu and I prepared at home. This was actually delicious, and probably several times fresher. 

This mythical creature is called a "finger lime." It's a very sour citrus fruit that, when squeezed, produces a caviar like fruit. It was probably one of the weirdest things I've seen, and the chef served it with the suggestion that we squeeze the contents onto our steak. Surprisingly (or not), it was delicious. 

Dessert!

Our chef

Yasu and Hase, reunited for a fabulous dinner.