Japan: May 7, Katsura, Tenryu-ji, bamboo grove, Kitano Tenman-gu, market streets, gyoza

For breakfast, we ate a selection of delicious pastries we had picked out at a bakery the night before. In a Japanese bakery, you pick up a tray and tongs, and pick out your own pastries. My favorite was an orange donut, followed closely by a pastry with chunks of apple and cheese.

We got an early start, because we had to be at Katsura by 9:50 am for our tour. Katsura is the imperial villa, kind of like a summer home for the emperor's family. It's actually easier to get a tour as a foreigner than as a Japanese tourist, and Alan's mom kindly set up the tour for us.

We took the subway to get there, my first time on it. So much nicer than BART! Green velvet seats, spacious, clean, on time, and generally civilized; I imagine this is what BART would be like if Caltrain ran it.

At Katsura, we filed into a room to watch a short video, and then were escorted into the garden. Our tour was in Japanese, but they provided English speakers with a headset to listen to recorded explanations. I wish I did understand Japanese, because our tour guide seemed to be cracking a lot of hilarious jokes not reciprocated by our dry, British lady in the audio tour.

The garden features a large pond and a number of tea houses. Our tour took us around the perimeter of the pond along a delightful stepping stone path. At the beginning of the garden, a pine tree was planted to block the view of the rest of the garden, so as to save some of the enjoyment for later, instead of seeing it all at once. The tea houses had places for viewing the moon, which is an amusingly specific use. I loved how green the garden was, with bursts of color here and there. It would be wonderful to come back other times of the year to see the garden in different seasons.

We hopped back on the subway to go to Tenryu-ji, the temple of the heavenly dragon. This World Heritage Site sits near the Katsura River, and the Arashiyama Mountains, which made for a breathtaking setting that is very different from the other temples we had seen so far. The gardens were wonderful for strolling through, with plenty of different plants and a lovely koi pond.

The temple is next to an incredible bamboo forest, which may have been one of my favorite things that I've seen. Bamboo is so tall! It was a windy day, and I loved the sound that the bamboo made as it swayed and bumped into each other, a hollow, resonant sound not unlike some wooden wind chimes. It was a peaceful place, and made me wish I had my own bamboo forest.

After stopping for a wonderful lunch of beef udon, we wondered around some shops for a bit, including a crazy shop that exclusively sells organic vegetable and savory flavored hard candy. Intrigued, we paid 500 yen to fill a bag with as many candies as we could fit. The flavors were chestnut,  pumpkin, spring onion, radish, carrot, black bean, and tomato. So far, I've tried the carrot; not only was it tasty, but also it reminded me fondly of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.

Next, we traveled to Kitano Tenman-gu, a shrine that honors Sugawara Michizane, one of Alan's ancestors! The shrine has a number of statues of cows, and you rub the part of the cow's body that symbolizes the good luck you seek.

From there, we went to the market streets to do a bit of shopping. There was so much there... Fans, stationery, hashi, clothing, snacks, tea, tourist traps, high end stores, and even a 100 yen shop. I picked up a number of fun souvenirs and gifts.

After stopping by Obaachan's to rendezvous with Alan's mom, we walked over to Osho, a tiny, neighborhood gyoza shop run by a grumpy old man. This place is definitely not for tourists, or indecisive people, as the man typically demands your order immediately upon entering. We went late, and there was a bit of a lull, so the man was uncharacteristically chatty. Some students stopped in to do the gyoza challenge--30 gyoza and a large order of rice in under 10 minutes! They were not successful. If a student cannot afford a meal, the man lets them wash dishes for an hour to pay for as much as they can eat, which is awesome. It was definitely the best gyoza I've ever had.

Exhausted, we headed home to get some sleep before another full day in Kyoto.

Japan: May 6, Imperial Palace, Nijo-jo, Kinkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji, Kodai-ji

We woke up immensely refreshed. After bathing in Obaachan's old-school square tub with a shower head, we had a breakfast of coffee and Japanese toast, which is thick and fluffy, with butter and marmalade.

We left with Alan's mom to explore the grounds of the Imperial Palace, which is a short walk from Obaachan's house. The palace was a giant building with unassuming architecture. Only the size and the gilded details let you know this was no ordinary place. The palace was surrounded by wide, white gravel roads with light pedestrian and bike traffic. We saw beautiful 300-year old trees, a small shrine, and a pond with koi fish, and listened to Alan's mom's descriptions of growing up there, with the grounds as her playground.

From the palace, we walked to Nijo Castle. Along the way, we stopped at a vending machine, from which I purchased a green grape drink in a can that contained actual peeled grapes inside! At the castle, we met a few of the friends from dinner the night before. I was amazed by how cheap it was to get into the castle, at only 600 yen (about $6); admission to a similarly historic place in the United States would have cost four or five times that.

The castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and I can understand why. The Ninomaru is incredibly ornate, with different rooms only accessible by people of different rank. The palace is known for its nightingale floors, which make a delightful little squeaking noise as you walk, to alert the guards to intruders. As was the case at many places we visited, we were required to remove our shoes before entering. There was something extra-special about treading upon those floors barefoot, which made me feel more connected to the past.

The buildings are surrounded by beautiful gardens and a moat. The stone walls were fascinating, with giant stones kept together without mortar. There was a high viewing area, a wonderful vantage point for taking in the city. It was strange to be at a castle, yet surrounded by the anachronistic buildings of modern society.

After Nijo, Alan and I hopped on a bus with the most adorable day passes imaginable. We took the bus to Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Temple, which is aptly named. The temple is completely covered in gold leaf, with a bronze Phoenix on top. It is surrounded by water, which reflects the temple beautifully. I must say, the temple was a bit ostentatious for my taste, but nonetheless was incredible and worth seeing. I enjoyed walking though the surrounding gardens as well, with a tea house, ponds, and many places to thrown coins for good luck.

From Kinkaku-ji, we took a short bus ride to Ryoan-ji, a World Heritage Site with the most famous hira-niwa rock garden. We were fortunate enough to be there when it was not very crowded, so we were able to sit in the front row of the viewing platform for some quiet contemplation of the garden, which has fifteen carefully arranged dark rocks amid a sea of white, raked sand, surrounded by a wall of boiled clay. I really liked the rock garden because it was peaceful, ordered, and beautiful. I also enjoyed the large pond, with gorgeous wisteria trees in full blossom reflecting off the water. Of course, none of this stopped me from disobeying the polite little sign we ran across...

After a delicious dinner of omelet rice, we took a cab to Kodai-ji to catch the final night of the temple light-ups. During the spring, a number of temples open at night with lanterns and lights placed throughout their garden to show off the beautiful trees in a different way. It was gorgeous, especially when the light was playing off the water and making the green of the Japanese maple trees so vibrant.

I nearly fell asleep on the bus ride back to Obaachan's house. It was a long, jam packed day of exploration, and I couldn't wait for more!

Japan: May 4-5, Flight to Japan

After months of planning our trip to Japan--or, as Alan and I came to call it, Japlanning--we finally took our trip during the second week of May!  I'll be posting a separate blog post for each day of our adventure, based on journaling I did during the trip.

Alan came over Friday night so that we could leave together for SFO bright and early. We ordered a pizza from Escape from NY, and decided that, to be proactive about jet lag, we would stay up all night, and then sleep on the plane, because take off was at 6 am, or 10 pm Japan time.  So, we spent the night watching Firefly, playing cards, and generally waiting with baited breath for our taxi to arrive at 4 am.

Our flight schedule was a bit silly. We had a great deal on our Delta flight, but we had to fly from SF to LA, and then back up to Seattle before we could catch our flight to Osaka. We were nervous on our LA to Seattle flight, because the plane took off late due to a mechanical problem that had to be fixed, but we made it with a half hour to spare.

The flight to Osaka wasn't half bad. The plane was huge, a 767 with seats for over 250 people, high ceilings, and plenty of leg room for someone short like me. We tried to sleep until morning time in Japan, but it was difficult to get deep sleep with the noise of the plane, and the excitement of our journey. I hadn't told the airline about Alan being a vegetarian in time (they require 10 days' notice, which is absurd), but fortunately the flight attendant repurposed a little food from first class to put together a meal for him.

To pass the time, we watched the third Batman movie, which was really dark, but excellent. We also played Scrabble (I lost, by a lot), played with our little touch screen consoles, and did a crossword puzzle. Other than that, we chatted, ate food, napped, and gazed out of the window expectantly.

We arrived in Osaka ahead of schedule, and stopped in at the restroom before heading to customs. All of the toilets in the women's room were bidets! I didn't try it out... There were a lot of buttons, and it was all in Japanese. I'm just glad I figured out how to flush.

Customs was easy. I was half-expecting them to ask a bunch of questions, but they just took my fingerprints, a photo, and did the necessary paperwork. We exited the airport to bright sunshine and gorgeous weather in the 70s, and I enjoyed my first vending machine beverage, a small can of Boss cafe au lait, while we waited for our bus (a.k.a., airport limousine) to Kyoto.

The bus was nice, like a chartered bus you'd see in the United States. I enjoyed being able to see some of the city as we drove for 90 minutes, and remarked upon the eclectic layout of the city--apartment buildings next to factories with smoke stacks, next to golf driving ranges, next to single family homes.

We arrived at Kyoto station feeling sleepy, but excited. We found a cab, and Alan explained where we were going; Obaachan's house is near the Imperial Palace, but doesn't really have a house number. The cab driver took us through a number of narrow streets to get there, my first glimpse close-up of the streets of Kyoto.

"Koko, koko!" Alan said suddenly to the cab driver, pointing to a small, two-story house. We were here! We rang the doorbell, and Alan's mom greeted us at the door. Obaachan's tiny face peeked out from the doorway, smiling and greeting us, as we took off our shoes and wiped down the dusty wheels of our luggage before entering.

Obaachan, and her house, reminded me strongly of my paternal grandmother, Nana. Obaachan made us green tea, and we ate mochi wrapped in bamboo leaves, to bring us good luck on Children's Day. Obaachan was warm, with kind eyes and a laugh that put me at ease despite our language barrier.

After settling in a bit, Alan and I left with Alan's mom to have dinner with some of her friends. There were eight of us; I was the only one who didn't speak Japanese, but they did a nice job of trying to include me, and I could pick up a number of things through context. The meal itself was a feast. Plate after plate of food came out from the tiny kitchen window next to our table: three different types of bamboo shoots (in season, and as tender as artichoke hearts), squid, sashimi, salad, tofu, squishy stuff on a small skewer, and at least ten other items I cannot remember.

The group complemented me on my good use of hashi, but I undermined their praise when I dropped half of a piece of steamed sweet potato in just the right way to cause a toothpick-sized skewer resting on the edge of my plate to launch into the air and ricochet off of Alan's mom. Thankfully, everyone found it hilarious instead of mortifying, but that didn't stop me from turning bright red!

The meal, while delicious and with entertaining company, lasted for several hours, which was exhausting for a jet-lagged traveller. Alan and I were practically falling asleep at the table when the meal finally ended, and Alan's mom took us home. We climbed up the steep staircase to the second floor, where our beds were, and fell asleep at once, elated by the promise of tomorrow, our first full day in Kyoto.