Excusemimasen, have you seen my wabi-sabi?: 03/21/10

Yesterday was the longest day I think I've ever had, in all senses of the word. Really, it began Thursday morning, after a couple of hours of sleep. I didn't manage to sleep that evening before we drove to the airport at a very ungodly hour the next morning. I don't believe I slept on the flight to Chicago, although I think I might have had a catnap across a couple of seats waiting to board. (Also, Gerry seems to have a hidden radar for finding the slightly broken seats at airports.) The transpacific flight was less than comfortable: the leg room was not terribly roomy, there weren't any little AC fans over our heads, and there was the part about it being a 13-hour flight. We followed the sun going west, so though we jumped ahead a day when we crossed the international date line, we never actually saw night until we landed in Japan. When we arrived in the Tokyo-Narita airport, we all wanted showers--but we still had a bus ride to a different airport, another flight, a train ride, and as it turned out, another bus ride to go.

As it turned out, we flew in on a very blustery day, complete with turbulence, and wooden roller coaster-like descents. This was surprisingly helpful as it ended up delaying our next flight by 40 minutes, which meant we could make it in a reasonable time, considering the 90-minute bus ride between the airports and rechecking luggage. The bus ride itself was a welcome relief from cramped flying--plus we got our first non-bird's eye look at Japan. The landscape is still wintry, scraggly and grey, but here and there we could see sakura and ume trees starting to bloom.

Before our last flight to Osaka, we picked up our first snacks in Japan. I wasn't feeling particularly adventurous, so I ended up buying those little creme-filled Koala cookies you can find at World Market, and Canada Dry ginger ale. The ginger ale here is more gingery, which I suppose isn't a big surprise--still delicious. We also saw soy sauce flavored Kit Kats. In Japan, there are a crazy number of Kit Kat flavors, and the flavors themselves...well, crazy--More on that later.

After our last flight, we took a train to Kyoto Eki, the landmark where I asked my first question to a worker in complete Japanese (whether taking the bus or the
chikatetsu would be cheaper). But once we found the right bus line, the ticket machine confounded us until a nice man who spoke English let us know you pay for your ride on the bus itself. So we hopped it. Then it started to rain.
Maybe we should have taken a taxi. You always hear the sardines comparison. Now think sardines with luggage.
At our stop with the super-long-name, I made the mistake of putting my coins in the change machine instead of the payment-eater: one of what I am sure will be a long list of embarrassing moments here. At least they expect foreigners to make mistakes.

We finally managed to find the guesthouse after walking for a couple of blocks in the rain, which wasn't too heavy, but eventually made the map I'd printed out harder to read when the ink started running. We thought we were on the wrong street for a moment, but a nice lady who happened to walk down the street pointed out the guesthouse to us. Just about everyone I've interacted here has been very kind and helpful (and polite, of course.) The gentleman who runs the guesthouse is just the same.

The guesthouse is a lovely, quaint little place. The rooms are on the smaller side, but feel more compact than cramped. You leave your shoes just inside the front door, as is traditional. The kitchen is well equipped, and sometimes guests leave a bit of food in the fridge for future guests to finish, like Pino, delicious ice cream bon-bons. The bathrooms, showers, and mirror/sinks are not actually inside the building, although they are under cover--and everything is impeccably clean. The showers, western and Japanese toilets are all enclosed, and the urinal is covered by traditional Japanese door-curtains.

No, I have not been brave enough to try the Japanese-style toilet. I'm afraid of falling in. Besides, the water-efficient western-style toilet is much more amusing. The seat heats up, which feels pretty awesome. I suppose it has this feature because going to the bathroom would be kind of difficult if it was really cold out--it can get drafty. Also, the flush-handle made me lol. On top is the kanji for "big" with an arrow pointing up, and below that is the kanji for "small" pointing downward, so you can flush the toilet and conserve water appropriately.

You have to mind your head going up the steep stairs going to the 2nd floor rooms. I don't know how the manager got my suitcase up those stairs...refusing his help would have been rude though, I think. Our room has a fairly big closet, and 3 futon. The pillows are kind of like bean-bags--not stiff, but they hold shape better than feather pillows.

A little after we put our things in our room, Ben came by, and we talked a bit to a couple of Japanese girls who were visiting the area in the common room (which is outfitted with a tv, computers, internet, and a heater.) We got ourselves cleaned up before going out to eat at a small restaurant. Not many things were open that late, just a bit after midnight. We ordered some familiar dishes, although they were different from what we're used to, as expected. On the way back, we stopped by a convenient store, and bought a few drinks from vending machines along the way. Vending machines are literally on every block, and carry soda, teas, coffee, and juices.

Needless to say, we passed out quickly last night. (Side note: "needless to say" is so weird. You're indicating it is useless to say what you're about to say, but you say what it is that is useless to say anyway and emphasize the uselessness of saying what you said on top of all that. Silly English.)

We woke up fairly early this morning, Ben called a taxi to the guesthouse, which took us to Tokyo Eki. After a a pit stop at Mister Donut, a subway ride and a short walk, we found ourselves at the Koubou-san market/fair at Tou-ji, one of numerous nearby temples. There is absolutely no shortage of temples and shrines in Kyoto. It was a bit foggy and overcast today, so much that the sun in the sky was white--a little eerie.

The Koubou-san market is only held on the 21st of each month, and the vendors sell everything from food, to kimono and yukata, charms and trinkets, traditional crafts, to bonsai. It's not unlike the Marketplace in Charleston, SC, or the gitano's market in Rota, Spain.

This leads me to an observation, or maybe a feeling that Robert and I keep having as we walk about the streets in Kyoto. We aren't so struck by the differences in what we see so much as the similarities. The houses are actually very similar to those you see in Spain: small, with a couple of stories, the upper stories often slightly smaller than those beneath, and many have gardens and trees growing just behind the walls.

The businesses and stations are very Western--no surprise. The shikansen works pretty much exactly like the subway in D.C., down to the ticket-gates and the doors yelling at you to get out of the doorways so they can close. We even walked past a church today that vaguely imitated a Gothic cathedral--without the cathedral part, and with the fancy Gothic elements severely watered down.

Back to the market--I went giddy and had my first mini-shopping spree. I bought a couple of cell-phone charms: a beige glass owl, and a cute little kitsune holding a bead. I also found a several pieces of beautiful ceramic ware, and ended up buying a very wabi-sabi looking vase, and a couple of tea cups with absolutely lovely paintings of rabbits gazing at the moon. I also found beautiful not-quite-geta sandals, and some cute tabi.

After some meandering around the market, we went inside Tou-ji. To the left was a stand for souvenirs, where Ben suggested I get a nokyo-cho, a book which you can take to Japanese temples and collect the signatures and seals to each one you visit.

On the way back from the fair, we walked around Kyoto Eki, up several escalators to the top of the building, back down some stairs, across a couple of skyways, then back down a few escalators and past a wedding. There might have been a couple moments of slight acrophobia and vertigo. The views from the top levels of the station were vast, albeit foggy. Kyoto Tower looks, as Ben says, like a huge cigarette.

After our outing this morning, we rested up a bit...in fact, some of us are still resting upstairs as I write. A few hours ago Robert and I ventured out to find the 7-Elven since we were feeling peckish. We ended up picking up some interesting looking edibles in addition to soba and cup noodles. Robert bought some green tea Kit Kats, which turned out to be pretty tasty. I'm very intrigued by the passionfruit Kit Kats, though I haven't gotten to try it yet. I picked out some apple candy that turned out to be a lot like taffy, a heavenly piece of chocolate (with vanilla creme and a layer of what seemed like strawberry jelly on top, covered in white chocolate), and a cold strawberry pastry-looking desert we haven't tried out yet. Also, check out grape Fanta here.

I think they wanted Tommy Lee Jones for this advertisement because he looks kind of like the guy in their logo. Minus a pipe and a mustache.

Also, Japanese tv is hilarious. The pizza in the Pizza Hut commercial looks entirely gross, the commercials are goofy as all get out, and there was an amusing game show where the teams of contestants had to enter the jump-rope line, answer questions correctly, and keep jumping rope as the rest of their team joined them. Some of the men were completely hopeless at entering the jump-rope without tangling themselves up horribly.