Yesterday (again, too wiped out to blog last night) was moving day. Mom & I were mostly packed the night before to make an easier morning. Showered and 7/11 breakfast on our beds, we had plenty of time and didn't feel rushed. We met the guys downstairs at 10 am and we all stored our bags and we re out the door.
We headed to the Kyoto Palace. Kyoto had been the capital a couple of different times in history. Whichever family was in power decided where they wanted the capital to be at the time. We took a bus, Kyoto doesn't have an extensive subway system like Tokyo and Osaka did, so we've been taking buses, and had a short walk to the Palace. The walk from where we entered the Palace grounds and where the entrance to the Palace were was a looooong walk on gravel, so it was little harder. The grounds were beautiful, full of many different types of trees. A couple of friendly, locals baseball games were taking place on fields that had been transformed for that.
We got to the entrance for the Palace and learned that guided tours are mandatory, no going walking around all willy-nilly on your own, and that the next one wasn't for 2.5 hours. Well, fudge. We didn't want to stick around that long nor come back. We found a nearby Visitor's Center and sought refuge from the heat and humidity for a bit, as well as a welcome bathroom break. Mom and I found a gift shop, because, of course we did, and I bought myself a purple coin purse that was made from the material from furnishings in the Palace. Well, supposedly. Regardless if that story is true or not, I like the purple coin purse.
The guys were hungry, not having eaten breakfast yet, and wanted to go to a nearby katsu place (read: fried food, not what Mom wants to eat), so she and I set out on foot then bus to go back to the babbling brook spot we found yesterday, to sit and enjoy the running creek sounds for a bit. Google Maps did a good job of getting us there and we stopped at a vending machine and got a couple of cold drinks to enjoy while we sat. She's really enjoying Pocari Sweat, which is the light Gatorade-type drink. And I found the melon soda Kenji & I like so much.
We found the same spot and sat on the marble seats for a good while, enjoying the shade of the large patio-type umbrellas and from the trees. It was almost cool. When we finally decided it was time to get going, we wanted to see the area where the Geishas live and see if we could see any. It's illegal to take any pictures of them, but we hoped to see one. The street Google Maps led us to was non-descript and had no one, except for a couple of tourists, walking around. Well, shoot. Oh well. We decided we were a bit peckish and started looking for a place to eat. We found a ramen shop and as a lady popped her head out and asked us in Japanese if we wanted to come eat (at least that's what I told myself she was saying) I whipped out my one good full on phrase "Eigo no menu wa arimasu ka?" (pronounced: eggo no menu ah-ree-mah-soo-kah) (meaning: do you have a menu in English?) and she happily handed me a picture menu with descriptions in English and prices. We agreed and entered.
We agreed on sharing a ramen set (ramen, gyoza and rice) and when we tried to order that we were told each person has to order something. This is not the first time we've been told that at a restaurant. Mom wasn't overly hungry and didn't want a whole bowl of ramen, so we decided to try ordering her just a plate of gyozas. That placated them. We each had our own gyozas and we shared the ramen and rice. It was a quaint little place, maybe 10 seats at the bar and 3 tables for 4 each. The staff were all very friendly and it seemed to be a real Mom and Pop place, with family all working there, which is typical in Japan. We enjoyed our meal, lingered and chatted and finally left. I'd texted with Kenji and they were at the Nishi Temple, the main large temple associated with the temple in LA that his family has attended over the years, where is Grandpa was on the Board. The guys had walked in while they were having a service, so stayed to watch. We decided to hop on a bus and meet them there.
After what felt like a really long bus ride and a short walk we arrived. This place was enormous! Kenji described this particular temple as the Vatican for his temple in LA and all Nishi's in the world. He told us that when it was built it was the largest wooden structure in the world. He and Mom took off their shoes and went to go inside. My feet hurt so much and were so hot that I thought if I took off my shoes I might not get my feet back in them, so I sat on the steps outside. They took a while to walk around, Mom and I got pictures of the temple and surrounding buildings and we decided it was time to finally leave and head back to pick up our bags and move to tonight's "hotel". We're staying in Kyoto one more night, we're just moving to a ryoken (pronounced: rye-oh-ken) which is a traditional Japanese accommodation (read: tatami mats on the floor and futons to sleep on).
I was wiped out so I asked if we could take a taxi both from the temple to the hotel and from the hotel to the ryoken. Neither were very far away, but I had had it. Put a fork in me, I was done. So we did just that and arrived at the ryoken. While sitting at the temple I did a quick Google search and found that the ryoken did NOT have an elevator. Yikes! I think my suitcase weighs 30 pounds at least! Luckily, though, Google did say they have a/c, so there was that to look forward to. Leo had said he's carry my suitcase up to my room for me. Sweet kid! As we were checking in the manager mentioned to find the elevator around the corner. Elevator? Yay! Especially since we were on the 4th floor.
We got our rooms and found a low table with "chairs" with no legs, the seat was on the floor, with a cushion on the seat. No beds. Yikes! I hadn't considered that there wouldn't be a traditional (Western) place to sit. They came to our rooms after we left for dinner and put out the futons, until then. chairs on the floor for us! Mom and I couldn't figure out the remote so I called the front desk and a very nice woman came. She kneeled on the tatami mats and showed us how to work the remote, admittedly after having to call the front desk on her headset as she couldn't figure it out either. After getting instructions in her ear, she showed us how to work the remote and explained if we signed into Hulu or Netflix with our own accounts we could watch shows in English. Nice!
Mom and I watch a little sumo wrestling then got ready to leave for dinner. The guys knocked on our door and explained that Leo wasn't hungry and that he was going to walk back to the other hotel (maybe 15 mins) to look for a keychain he'd bought in Osaka that was hanging from his backpack when he left the room in the morning but was now missing. He wondered if it had fallen off when they stored our bags. So he went off and the 3 adults headed to go find dinner. Kenji had suggested the mall at the train station again and I said if we did that then I could go get more of the socks I'd purchased the night before that I liked. We walked and I was amazed at how close we were to the train station. Kenji also pointed out the Skytree Tower and reminded me that there was a food court in the basement there. After getting several more pair of wicking-away socks we looked at the food offerings at that mall and decided to go look at Skytree to see what was there.
It was only across the street, which was nice. We took the escalator down and wandered around, looking at all the different restaurants and settled on a gyudon place (think: Yoshinoya Beef Bowl) but this place served it was sukiyaki (with sauce) and used Waygu! Kenji & I ordered it with an egg yolk on top and we each got a lemon sour, the alcoholic Shochu drink we've had a few times so far. Mom had beef bowl and water. Kenji mentioned that there was a pancake place here somewhere that served Japanese pancakes, the kind that are like a souffle and jiggle. I told him it was directly behind us and I wanted one for dessert, so when we were done we looked at the menu there and Mom said she wanted to try the mango drink, so I ordered the set (combo) of classic pancake and mango drink. She was given her mango drink almost immediately, but my pancake took 10 minutes. It was yummy, light and fluffy, served with whipped cream, a pat of butter and a small container of syrup. Kenji & I shared it.
We stopped at 7/11 on the way back and got an ice cream for Leo and a couple of bananas for Mom & I in the AM. I told Mom I wanted to try the onsen (pronounced: own-sen) at the ryoken and she agreed to try it with me. We got dressed in the required yukata (long, light fabric robe tied with an elegant sash). I wore the slippers provided but they were too big for Mom and she didn't feel safe in them, so she wore her own slip-ons. We found our way down to the onsen, to the Women's side and got undressed and entered the onsen only to find on towels. Doh! We forgot the instructions said to bring our own from our room. So we trudged back upstairs, got our towels and returned to the onsen. We took a shower, as required, and walked in and sat down. It's like a giant square hot tub that's only maybe 3 feet deep and you sit on the floor, so side seats.
There were a couple of other women there we found out were from Paris, a mother and daughter. The daughter had been studying in Japan and wanted to show it to her mother. They agreed the humidity is awful! The onsen was too hot for Mom so she headed back to the room. The French women also got out and a Japanese woman came in. I sat enjoying the relaxation and soaking my feet and ankles. Then I had a horrible realization. Mom had the only room key! While I could knock on the door to be let in, I couldn't get to the 4th floor without a key to swipe in the elevator! I hurriedly got out, rinsed off and found the French women fishing getting their Yukata's on and I explained the situation. They agreed to get me on the elevator, but their room was on 3 and would not let them push the button for 4, so I got off at the first floor and pled my case to the front desk staff. After they verified my name and room # a man let me into the elevator and opened the door for me. Phew! Mom was surprised I was able to open the door as she knew she had the only key and I explained I had to get the hotel staff to let me into the elevator, too. Oh! She'd forgotten about that part, too.
She was tired and crawled right into bed. I had to run payroll for Foothill and crawled into bed soon after.
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