Shrines, Cleansing and Peaceful Times (Japan – Autumn 2018 Day 18)
This morning when I woke I already knew what I wanted to do with my day… there was no question that I wanted to visit as many less-frequented temples as possible while I was in Kyoto… I already had a basic idea of which ones I wanted to see so I planned a tentative route to the three that stuck out as being the most interesting that I should see.
Near our rented apartment there were some small shrines and temples, so there were definitely no shortage of places to visit… over 1600 temples and shrines exist in Kyoto so you are bound to find some place to relax or worship that is very near where you are at any given moment – this was evident just in walking on the main road down the hill from the apartment, where I passed at least 5 minor temples on my way toward my destination.
I wondered if the locals were jaded toward the existence of so many temples and shrines because they have just always been around or if they feel privileged because they know how special this place is. I found myself thinking that if I was given the choice to live in either Tokyo or Kyoto, I’d choose Kyoto.
In Kyoto you have big city things to do, neighborhood things to do and the added bonus of all of those temples. Plus, mountains surround three sides of the city so there is no shortage of outdoor activities that one can find to do, and if you know me then you know that I do love to hike and spend quite a bit of time in nature.
Theme of the day was definitely temples. I felt that this was the perfect way to continue the journey for peace and refreshment that I began the night before at Imakumano Temple… I wanted to fully embrace the tranquility that I have been seeking so diligently the past couple of months, to leave pain and sad thoughts in the wake of my determined steps toward healing.
On my way to some specific points, I saw all manner of temples, and I stopped at a few that seemed interesting. One such place was at Gojobashihigashi, which contains the Otani Mausoleum, Jippo-Ji Temple, Tsumyo-ji Temple, Myoken-do Temple, and Myoken Daibosatsu Myokendo… phew that’s a lot of important places!
At the first gate I found that there was the first stamp in a stamp rally! I learned that there were 4 stamps located throughout the complex and they supplied a leaflet to stamp each one… I ended up just stamping my Moleskine that I had with me.
The lady in the photo above was praying for such a very long time… I only understood words here and there but she sounded so sincere and thankful that I wanted to capture the moment.
Near the offery was another stamp. I waited until those around had finished making their offerings before I stamped my book, and then I moved on toward one of my destinations.
Onward I walked, and soon I found myself at one of the main destinations that I was seeking… Yasui Konpiragu Shrine. Located in the Gion district, this shrine is located on the grounds of Horyu-in Temple and is unusual because of it’s Power Stone…. it is said that if you wish to end a bad relationship and/or initiate new good relationships, then you make your wish, crawl through the center of the stone and back, bow, then adhere your wish to the stone on a slip of paper.
Yes, I did purchase a slip of paper, write my wishes and stand in line for 45 minutes… totally worth it.
Now, if you ask me, a stone really holds no power other than being good at standing still and in this case, holding thousands of papers on it’s surface (with the help of glue) . That, however, did not dissuade me from completing this ritual. It seemed an important thing for me to complete, an outward demonstration (at least to myself) of leaving some very unfortunate life altering situations behind me and moving on with the purpose of having a fulfilling life not dragged down with sadness.
It took a while to make it to the front of the line. Thankfully the sunny day was not too warm or too humid, so I did not mind things taking a little longer than would be optimal.
From a distance, the hole in the rock looked very very small and I had a growing concern that I would actually be able to make it through that hole without getting stuck! However observation told me that those with a waistline… erm, much larger than my own, were able to make it through so my fears were soon laid to rest.
Closer and closer I inched, and suddenly I found myself faced with this:
It kinda looks like it should be a Hobbit house, except… it’s too small for that. Phone at the ready to film myself go through, I got on my belly and slid through. Easy peasy! Now, to crawl back… I thought perhaps that I could crawl through with no problem since I’m a skinny person… left knee forward… uh oh… STUCK! I did not take into account that my legs are longer than the average person going through that hole, and so it was a big NOPE on crawling through! I had to back out a bit to get my leg un-stuck, and then I slid through on my belly again, quite embarassed already because I could hear laughter, but also people had their phones out and were filming me. Oh dear. Now I’ll be all over the internet, the gaijin who got stuck. Memes would be made of my ordeal and my embarrassment celebrated over and over. I turned to the stone, bowed, looked at the ground and hurried around back of the stone to apply glue to my wish-on-paper.
I adhered my paper to the stone, and still felt the flush of embarrassment. I could not bring myself to look anyone in the eye lest I catch someone mocking me. Hurry away I did not though… I paused to take more photos of the rest of the grounds.
On my map I noticed a park nearby that was not terribly far away, and decided to check it out. I had been near there back in 2014 but did not enter because time was limited and we were on the way to other things. On the way I passed by Yasaka Shrine and spotted these beautiful sisters:
I paused and offered to take their photo together – they happily accepted! I wish that I had remembered to also take a photo with my own phone so that I could have had the memory! They also took a selfie with me which was very sweet! Again, I forgot to get my own phone out… how sad!
Onward I went, but I diverted my route so that I could walk along the Shirokawa, which is quite a beautiful and simple neighborhood. No fancy houses… just older homes that have a lot of charm. I found the Furukawamachi Bridge, a foot bridge that is maybe one foot wide? I crossed it with a little concern, and made sure to take a video as I tried to keep my balance.
Once safely across the “scary” bridge, I continued my walk. Along the way I saw an old sign:
I also saw a pair of tanooki in a stream – an out of place pyramid rests on the street above them. I cannot help but feel like I was in that exact same spot looking at the exact same items during July of 2014… now I have to go back through the photo archives and look (when I return to the US of A) because this will haunt me until I do.
Next stop: Narnia, AKA Murin-An Garden. Built between 1894 & 1896 by Yamagata Aritomo, a Prime Minister during the Meji Period. His vision was realized by the Japanese master gardener Ogawa Jihee, who also designed a few other famous gardens.
410 Yen admission is a paltry sum considering the sheer delight that this garden brought to my eye and the solace to my spirit… pay at the window to the left of the entrance, and then you are directed through a small door, which even people shorter than I need to bow their heads to get through:
I stepped through and was dazzled by the sight that I beheld: A wonderfully landscaped garden with both Japanese and Western influences welcoming wanderers into it’s harmoniously peaceful scenes accompanied by a symphony of gently flowing water, lullabies of songbirds and the occasional faint trumpet of elephants, who live nearby in the Kyoto Zoo.
What joy sprang to my heart! I slowly meandered through the gardens, allowing myself to slow down and fully drink in every sight, smell, sound and feel that I was experiencing around me… I felt quite at home and relaxed… usually I feel a bit as if I have to behave a certain way in a formal garden but this seemed to be a more natural place, like walking in the woods, except that it was clearly a structured garden but artfully so, because so many nooks seemed so natural, as if they had always been there.
I took a few hundred photos in this beautiful garden and it was difficult to narrow it down to those that I included here. If these seem redundant, I heartily apologize to you, Dear Reader, if your eyes glaze over or roll back into your head for a moment… but I simply could not resist putting these choice photos here for my own pleasure. Thank you for your indulgence.
How much time I spent in the garden I could not tell you, for I literally let go of all sense of time and just… existed for a while. A rare thing it is for me to let myself unwind to this point as I am always planning something or working out some puzzle in my head.
Before leaving, I paused at the teahouse to sit on the veranda – the last photo above is from that vantage point. Once sufficiently rested I moved on, unsure of exactly where I was going to next.
My feet ended up taking me deeper into the Gion District, a part of Kyoto that hither to fore I had not seen much of. Keep in mind that my previous visits had very short time constraints and were more like whirlwind tours of temples and shrines.
My feet took me to the grounds of Nanzen-ji Temple, I knew nothing about them except that they were a 15 minute walk away… I am very glad that I went there because there were more awesome surprises awaiting.
It turns out that there are a few temples on the ground, with the main Nanzen-ji being one of the Great 5 temples of Kyoto… I was surprised to learn this as there were very few tourists there… perhaps because it is more out of the center of town? I do not know, but having no crowds to deal with was again, exactly what I wanted and needed for this day.
Here I purchased an incense stick, lit it and put it into the censer, said a prayer and tossed a coin into the offery. This place had an overwhelming sense of welcoming, and I was surprised to see locals going right past and ignoring this wonderful place
Offerings and respects paid, I moved on further into the complex, where I saw what appeared to be a small grove of trees… I was indeed correct, there was a small grove of trees but I did not expect to find…
A western-style aqueduct?!?! Puzzled, I investigated further. It seems that this aqueduct connects to Lake Biwa, and used to bring water into the city! Parts of the aqueduct are under repairs after some years of neglect. It is a popular place for people to gather and take photos – this one above is from my iPhone, but I did get a few shots with my DSLR that are waiting to be edited – that will be in a later post.
I was delighted to find such a treasure on my wanderings and I spent a bit of time here taking photos.
Soon I moved on, for I wanted to catch a view of the setting sun from Kiyomizu-dera… through Gion I walked and found a parade? OH! It was theThe Jidai Matsuri—”Festival of Ages” which commemorates the founding of Kyoto as the Imperial capital by the Emperor Kammu in 794… this is quite the affair, as a procession of over 2000 people in costumes from every era of Japanese history leave the Imperial Palace grounds in the morning and walk along a route that is several kilometers long, ending at the Heian Jingu Shrine.
(I looked this up as I snapped the photos) – a total surprise and a very happy one at that!
I was near the Heian Jingu Shrine, so I was literally seeing the last 10 minutes of the procession – I am very happy that I was able to witness this!
As the last of the costumed people went by, I quickly took my leave in an attempt to get ahead of the throngs of people that would soon be flooding the streets. Up up up the hills I went, and I found the meandering streets of Gion charming…
A few more tourists and touristy stores were here, mixed in with stores filled with handcrafted goods and foods… then my eyes spotted a small coffee stand, and then my eyes spotted a sign that said “Portland Roasting Coffee” and I had to stop!
Grateful for a cup of really good hand poured coffee and thanked by an even more grateful shopkeeper, I was also welcomed by another customer, who heard me talking with the barista about me being from Portland, where the coffee was roasted.
This friendly face was from Australia, near Adelaide… I never did catch her name but I am inclined to think that she will never fade from my memory. I sat next to her on a comfortable wooden bench, coffee in hand and had a nice conversation… we talked about coffee, about our respective homes and lives… and even touched on some deeper things. I never did get her name. She had to dash off after our 40 minute conversation to return her bicycle rental, which was due to be turned in shortly as she was heading back to Australia the next day
I wasn’t terribly far from Kiyomizu Dera so I quickened my pace, determined to catch the setting sun but alas, too many interesting things were vying for my attention… stopping to snap a couple of quick photos turned into more photos, more stopping and delaying my arrival to a vantage point to view that sunset. Clearly it was more about the journey for me today, rather than an ultimate destination.
On the winding streets of the mountain that lead up to Kiyomizu-dera, I found the Yasaka Kōshin-dō, whose full name is Daikoku-san Kongō-ji Kōshin-dō – one of Kyoto’s most colorful shrines… yet another surprise! I paused here for a bit and people watched.
A little investigation told me that these multi colored fabric “balls” are actually in the shape of Kukurizaru, a monkey with bound feet and hands.In Kōshin belief, it represents the control of the playful and desire-driven creature everyone has inside his body, according to Wikipedia. One writes their desire on the ball and by tying this ball with their desire to the shrine, a sacrifice is made… the desire vanishes, and thus a wish can be granted… it is said that desire keeps one’s wishes from coming true.
Many selfies and portraits being taken at the shrine.
I unintentionally followed these two up the path toward the Yasaka Pagoda… It wasn’t until I snapped this photo that I realized it was the same couple!
Onwards to Kiyomizu-dera I went – by this time I knew that I’d miss watching the sun go down, but would be able to witness at least the afterglow:
Tired and incredibly hungry, I message my Swedish friends… the guys wanted to do their own thing but Paulina was willing to grab some dinner.
We met up at home and then walked to the downtown area and a Yodobashi… we proceeded to the floor with all of the restaurants and ended up choosing a Chinese place for dinner, which was pretty good. Soup dumplings were had, but frankly didn’t have much broth in them, which was disappointing. I could not help but wish that it was Din Tai Fung!
… aaaaand since we were in a Yodobashi, we HAD to check out their extensive selection of Gashapon!
Walking home, near the Kamo-gawa river I spotted this shrine… which seemed really really familiar and then it hit me that I had passed by and observed this very same shrine on my first visit in 2014… I had remarked at the time how out of place this shrine seemed, and it still seemed so… but definitely a nice thing to find!
Turns out that I walked for almost 13 miles that day… around 20 kilometers – on my feet there were a few blisters as a physical reminder, and and in my heart, memories that will last me a lifetime. Indeed, I did find what I was seeking that day, and much much more. Peace was welling within and confidence that the tender bud of hope was starting to grow, a promise that healing would soon bloom.
Kyoto – Day One… from Sad to Glad (Japan – Autumn 2018 Day 17)
Ahhhhh Kyoto. The quintessential picture of what people conjure up in their minds when they think of traditional Japan… they aren’t wrong to do so because Kyoto is just that… and much more as well.
Kyoto was first settled in the 7th Century… by the year 794, it became Heian-Kyō, the capital city to distance it from the clerical establishment in Nara… in those times the Buddhist clergy was very powerful and quite involved in the Imperial government, so the Emperor Kanmu wanted to relocate the capital there. Tokyo would not become the capital city of Japan until 1868, but that is a long story better served in a separate blog post.
Back to current times… all of us were up fairly early to get ready to go to Tokyo Station this morning to catch the Shinkansen. Everyone was pretty excited to go to Kyoto… except for me. I was feeling quite overwhelmed with the serious nature of a few things that I am dealing with in my life right now, things too personal to write here, at least at this time. I felt quite lonely and isolated and confused about decisions that I am facing in the near future. It was all too much, once I settled in and got still on the Shinkansen… tears flowed and I was concerned that someone would notice… thankfully no one did.
I dug deep to find some strength to move past the thoughts and feelings that were taking the forefront of my attention… by the time we arrived in Kyoto I was less emotional, but definitely subdued and not excited. The walk to the apartment that we rented was only a half hour, but the roads that we went over sent two of my luggage wheels over the edge – after 10 years of use and abuse, two of them had been threatening to half fall apart, and fall apart they did… about mid-way through this walk. (now I have to get a replacement set while I’m here)
The last 15 minutes were mostly uphill, and by the time we got there my back and arms were a little sore from dealing with faulty luggage wheels and a heavy backpack… but the apartment was REALLY nice – while the others went upstairs to claim their beds and take a nap, I claimed one of the sofa beds in the living room as my own and hooked up my Playstation 4 – priorities!
Since I hadn’t been online in 16 days, updates needed to happen… a system update and a game update took around an hour and then I was feeling energetic and refreshed so I set out to one of the nearby temples for some much needed recharging.
Imakumano Kannonji Temple was literally just up the road and a hill away from the apartment, so I set my path toward that destination. It was not terribly long before sunset and I wanted to make certain that I could go to a peaceful place before I went back to the apartment.
At the entrance stood a nice bridge to welcome me in:
This temple is not one of the temples that is frequented by tourists, so I was fairly certain that it would not be crowded… I was correct, as there was only three other people who seemed to be locals there, who left shortly after I arrived.
This was a beautiful place. I did not take a photo of the main shrine out of respect, even though there were no signs prohibiting it, but here I have a photo of the base of a statue that stood just outside of the shrine:
A path from that point lead to mini shrines to pray and reflect at, all in a small bamboo thicket
I slowly walked up the path and I noticed there was a large beautiful building at the top – I wanted to hurry up and get to the top of the hill because I could see the light of the setting sun, but I did not hurry my steps… I decided to bask in the serenity of this place and let the pains and stress of the day melt away as I slowly ascended.
My patience rewarded me with peace, and a beautiful view:
From this point you could see across the valley floor and the mountains on the other side too. So perfect. So peaceful. So beautiful. Exactly the sort of thing that I deeply needed and had been seeking for weeks was right here… I savored every moment.
I was standing there and looking out over the the valley when I heard a friendly voice calling out… I couldn’t quite make out what he was saying because he was a little far away, but when he got closer I realized it was one of the monks asking my forgiveness for interrupting but could I please come with him because the shrine was closed!
I was so embarrassed and apologized profusely (in Japanese) and he responded that it was okay, and asked me to please have a good evening and come again. He had to unlock the gates to let me out – they allowed me to view the sun go fully down before they retrieved me – so kind. I’ll never forget both the embarrassment that I felt and the kindness that man expressed even in his humble apologies for interrupting me.
Exiting the shrine, I walked back down the path toward the bridge and paused, planning what I might do next because I was not ready to go home yet. I was a little hungry, but I decided to make my way to Fushimi Inari-Taisha, since it was only just over a mile away from the house, and some further distance from where I was exactly standing. I was hoping that perchance the food merchants would still be there since it was Sunday night but I also know that around sundown some of them close, so I wasn’t hopeful. I chose a wooded path that looked inviting and slightly scary, but I knew there was nothing to fear. Through the woods I happily walked, and at that point pulled up a map on my phone to plot a more sure course.
I went through a quiet neighborhood in the first of the twilight hour, then through another small wood, over a hill and back into a neighborhood. Around a tiny shrine, through another wood and another neighborhood, then over another hill – the moon was making an appearance, well on it’s way to being full in a few days.
Suddenly, I was on the approach to the shrine and HUZZAH! Food vendors! About half of them were still set up, and they were getting a lot of business from the throngs of tourists exiting the shrine. I was lured by a heavenly smell to one particular stall…. it was some sort of crepe-ish looking thing on a stick, covered with sauce and drizzled with mayo like Okonomiyaki, but clearly wasn’t Okonomiyaki… I still don’t know what this thing was called, but I DO know that it was made of… Yuba Yam flour, stuffed with a chunk of cheese – it was so delicious! Finding out what this was and finding a recipe for me is now going to be an obsession, because that was so very delicious!
Hunger satiated to an acceptable degree, I continued on up the mountain… there were still quite a few people there despite being dark, but I made my way up the first section of Torii Gates anyway in hopes that a zillion people would not be taking the full hike to the top of the mountain.
I got to the point where the path starts to get steeper, the section that leads to family shrines, but it was CLOSED. Oh, I was so very disappointed! Every time I have been at this shrine I have not had the time to go to the top of the mountain, and now that I had the time… no entry. Sadness! Perhaps I will try again tomorrow!
I consoled myself with a small photography session:
I waked the 1.2 miles home, happy and peaceful, thankful and determined to continue my week in pursuing good things in my life.
Once I arrived home, then I spent time with some of my Destiny clanmates playing the new Festival of Lost Souls content for Halloween – I have missed you all so much! (we need to raid when I get back to the US!)
Nerdy Times at Brent’s House (Japan – Autumn 2018 Day 16)
Brent is one of my oldest friends… we go way way back… as far back as almost 24 years ago, when Netscape Navigator was what you used to browse the web, and back when LASER TAG was THE thing to do… especially at Ultrazone in Milwaukie, Oregon!
Brent and I met at Ultrazone, a place where I met a handful of people that I am still proud to call my friends to this day! He’s from the greater Portland area, and I grew up there too. Brent has been living in Japan for 10 + years at this point, so naturally we new that we had to meet up at some point so I could meet his wife and baby boy too.
Apparently a Game Night happens once a month at Brent’s house… actually it’s more like a game day since people start arriving around 11 am and drop in when they like, stay until as late as everyone wants to continue playing. When I was first invited I wasn’t certain when we would be leaving for Kyoto, but once I knew the date I quickly accepted the invite.
Brent and his family live in the Adachi-Ku region of Tokyo – kinda far from the center of the city so the normal hustle and bustle is far removed from there… it’s definitely more neighborhood-ish and less urban and a refreshing change from throngs of people around.
They live in a three story detached house… think like a townhouse, but not attached to a row of townhouses. It’s like a tall, square house. First floor is two bedrooms, bath and laundry room combined – a separate tiny room with the toilet and plenty of storage spaces. Second floor is living space and a roomy kitchen with every inch of possible space used wisely for storage. Top floor is bedrooms also.
I settled into a comfy spot on the arm of the sofa, and we all played a round of Fibbage… then another and another. A couple more people arrived and three of them went to the grocery store to get chicken wings that David was going to cook for everyone… we all chipped in the Yen and David does all of the cooking – what a nice guy!
The whole time they were gone we played The Great Dalmuti, a card game that Richard Garfield of Magic the Gathering fame, although The Great Dalmuti is absolutely nothing like MtG!
It’s an older game, first published in 1995, and it was a staple at our weekly gaming gatherings when all of us Ultrazone peeps would hang out before our weekend laser tag sessions… several rounds were played today and we introduced a new generation of players to the game who also seemed to enjoy it as much as we did… if they weren’t peons too often lol! You can read about it in detail here: The Great Dalmuti – at Board Game Geeks
David cooked wings and we played Dalmuti, then the table was cleared and we quickly demolished the first batch of wings, then another, then another… he made some REALLY spicy ones that referred to as “Death” – aptly named as the longer it was after consuming them, the more hot my mouth and lips became – I literally had sweat beads on my face from these wings!
Thankfully batch 5 and 6 were not as spicy and thus I did not die.
I played Overcooked with Brent and Kyle-Kun his son helped – Kyle is a year and 8 mos old and is already promising to be a gamer!
After wings Magic the Gathering was played and since it’s been way too long since I’ve played and I have no idea what I am doing, I just watched and then had to leave early around 7 since I knew that I needed to finish packing up and getting to sleep early for our trip to Kyoto the next day.
It was great to meet so many new people!
What A Difference A Day Makes! Odiaba & Joypolis FUN! (Japan – Autumn 2018 Day 12)
FWOOOOOOO! Today was AWESOME! I AM OVER THAT COLD and energetic AF! Back to my happy bouncy self, I was ready to take on the day and it’s a good thing that I was ready because the plan was to visit Odaiba and Joypolis!
The others wanted to leave a bit later than I did, and I was STARVING so I decided to take the half hour walk to Asakusa to get some ramen.
I walked past the Asahi building for the first time and saw the golden squiggly cloud thing? up close. Got a nice shot of the golden building and the reflection of the Tokyo Sky Tree that is nearby, too.
I had my heart set on Ichiran, which is not the greatest ramen – if you’re looking for something more “gourmet” or “complex”, this is not the ramen for you.
The sort of ramen that it is would be summed up as comfort food. It’s tasty. It’s hot. It’s noodles and gosh darnit I love me some noodles!
This particular location had table service as well as the usual counter service – I chose counter service because I tend toward being a hermit side anyway, especially if I am dining alone. It’s not that I hate people, but when I’m alone, I want to be…. alone!
It’s cute that they give you instructions at your “booth”. It’s basically a long counter with removable dividers between each seat – if you’re with someone, you can fold that divider in so you can see your friend.
In front of you is a wall, with a window at the bottom portion. There is a bamboo shade that get’s rolled down after your food is delivered to you – through that window. They will announce your order and slide your food to you, but all you see is someone’s hands and legs and then SWOOSH goes the shade and you have privacy once more.
Ordered kae-dama, which is a noodle refill – a nice thing when you have more broth just going to waste. Here you can order a half or full kae-dama – half was just enough for me.
Here is a view of the whole booth – hither to fore, I’ve not been bold enough to step back and take a photo because there were others around on previous visits, but this time I went for it. Silly Boo.
Best dining option, or best dining option? Eating out isn’t always about being social.
Right as I was finishing up my lunch, I received a text that the group was heading out soon, so rather than explore Asakusa I headed straight to the train station to spend a little more time on my own in Odiaba before they all arrived. I headed straight for the waterfront near the Statue of Liberty, since that was close to Joypolis and where they would be arriving. It was nice to sit in the salty air by Tokyo Bay and just relax for a while. I miss the ocean. I was really missing my tree friends and hiking back home – I was a bit homesick today, wanting my home comforts and my hikes in the woods. Not to say that I am not grateful to be here in Tokyo, because I most certainly am… a bit of homesickness is healthy and to be expected amongst the fun and adventure.
Somewhere around a half hour to 45 minutes of quiet reflection by the bay was had, and then I met up with the group. They were hungry so we went to what amounted to a ramen food court at Aqua City – seriously awesome to have that much choice! I was only snack-y at that point so I had a few gyoza and called it good. They were delicious.
After lunch, we went to see the Unicorn Gundam at Diver City
Then we wasted a little time in the mall as we were waiting for time to pass before 5 pm – Joypolis is discounted after 5 so we wanted to get the maximum value. Spent a little time at the Sanrio store:
… and also a few minutes at Round One (no pics) before we went to Joypolis.
It’s discounted after 5pm, and discounted a further 300 Yen when you show your passport too – we were so excited to play!
There are three floors of fun. The first thing that we queued up for was the Halfpipe Tokyo. You strap in and stand on a board, two people per board. You are both facing opposite directions and the center of your board tips on an axis… as you swing in the half-pipe, you have to coordinate which way you rock your feet on the board in order to make your board spin as it swings in the halfpipe – it’s harder than it sounds to get both of you coordinated, since one of you has to rock forward and the other back, since you’re facing opposite directions. Communication is key!
Then we went on a roller coaster that is suspended above the first floor – I rode this one alone so the other 4 could ride together. It’s a rhythm game as well as a roller coaster… three buttons on the harness that goes over your shoulders and during the slow portions of the ride there are projection screens in front of you with circles scrolling to the corresponding buttons on your harness. You play against your fellow rollercoaster car-mates (if you have any) and your winning scores are displayed at the end of the ride… after you go through a series of twists and turns above the first floor! There is also an anime of sorts playing as you are challenged by the rhythm game. I have no idea what it was all about because I was paying attention to the rhythm of the music.
The lines for attractions were not very long at all, I suspect because it was a weekday – this was a very nice thing indeed.
One thing that I was most looking forward to was the Initial D 4 ride – you’re SITTING IN A REAL CAR and controlling the game with an actual steering wheel, gas and brake pedals and gear shift! This made my nerdy car racing dreams come true – it’s about as close as I will ever get to actually racing a real car, I am certain! XD
Yes, this is the car that I “drove” –
More simulators that spin – this one was a race – two people per pod and again you had to coordinate to make it spin – this time it was a button on levers that worked sort of like tank control for directions that you drifted in a half pipe race course. That was really fun, but I’d say that the Transformers pod spinning thingie was more fun. (I don’t have a pic of that one)
On the third floor was a bunch of interactive 4-d simulators and such, but we didn’t have time to experience them all. One in particular caught my eye… all because of a creepy doll:
I HAD to check this one out, and ended up going in alone… well, sort of. There were two Japanese teenage girls that went in ahead of me… The guide tells you the backstory of which I understood nothing, since I don’t speak/understand enough Japanese to catch the drift… you enter through a black curtain into a dark hall… there is a railing on your left side and you are admonished before entering to NOT let go of the railing, lest you stumble and fall… or be captured.
The hallway leads to a small table with a candle and some creepy looking objects… behind you in the hallway sounds begin to stir… the two girls and I all gasped at the same time and giggled together… then a louder noise made us all jump and suddenly the guide was there again, looking creepy and opening double doors for us into a dining hall that can only be described as… not the sort of place that you would want to gather for dinner.
There was a long table in the center: above you on either side was shelving set into the wall… a small railing in front of rows of dolls in kimono… similar in kind to the one pictured above. Soft light gently illuminated them, casting eerie shadows onto the ceiling.
In the center of the table sat a wooden statue, nestled into a circle of oddly shaped runes – the statue held a basket, presumably for an offering as it was facing what was at the end the room opposite the door from which we entered… a large life-size doll, with it’s insides exposed, sitting on a throne-like chair… collapsed, silent. Silk curtains billowed gently from windows un-seen… we were instructed to put on the headphones resting on the table in front of us. Of what happened next, I dare not speak… you must experience it for yourself.
I went on a couple more “rides” before Joypolis was closing for the day, loving what I had experienced and already eager to experience more! I hope that I can visit again while I am still in Tokyo
Snackventures With Paulina (Japan – Autumn 2018 Day 13)
The Boys wanted to have their own adventure today. Paulina wasn’t feeling great after yesterday and I did not want her to spend the day alone, so I stayed with her.
She expressed the desire to have Okonomiyaki so it was decided that we should go to Monja Street near Tsukiji – I liked that place that Chris took me to so much the other night, so we went there… but it was closed! Turns out that it was only open during dinner hours, and we were there shortly after lunchtime.
We roamed the street to try and find a restaurant that looked good – about half of them were closed, I’m assuming because it was after lunch and mid-week. This still left a good selection of places to eat monja or okonomiyaki… however, we got distracted by two melon pan bakeries so we stopped to purchase some… one was from a place that I had previously visited with Kyle in 2015 that I knew I loved, and one was called Tokyo Melon Pan, which I had not tried before.
We saved our melon pans for later, in favor of finding our late lunch. Finally we settled on a place with an enthusiastic dude who asked us to come in – we chose to share a curry monja!
It was DELICIOUS and I’d definitely come back for food again! Part of the fun is cooking your own food but it was made even better by the guy who asked us to come in – he was very friendly and ended up talking with us about where we are from respectively and music – turns out that he really likes a Swedish band called Mando Diao! He was so enthusiastic and full of personality that we had to have our photo taken with him.
He reminded me quite a bit of Natsuki, Chris Broad’s friend and a frequent personality that appears in Chris Broad’s YouTube videos… awesome dude!
The monja was just enough to make us more hungry… but we saved our melon pan and opted to eat some cheap yakitori instead – again some food that I enjoyed with Kyle back in 2015 and wanted to try again.
My memory of how good this yakitori is was spot on – very happy that we went here! Paulina seemed to enjoy it too.
We continued on our way… the ultimate destination being a place fairly nearby that serves takoyaki for a cheap price. On our way, we saw:
empty streets:
I felt the need for a selfie because my hair was sort of behaving. This is probably because the humidity was the lowest it’s been so far this trip:
The photo is blurry, and I am only just now noticing this as I’m writing this blog entry. Oops.
Police station was adorable – I’ve been meaning to snap a photo of this for the past three trips here:
On our way to takoyaki, we saw Tsukiji Hongwanji, a temple founded during the early Edo period in 1617. The original building burnt in the Great Fire of 1657. The current building was built by architect Chūta Itō – he was asked to build it in the style of Indian temple architecture and the results are stunning!
The temple was about to close for the day, so we only got to peek inside as they were shutting the doors to the shrine – perhaps I can fully explore the building another day.
Just up the block was the takoyaki place – Tsukiji Gindako – Gindako is actually a chain. I was hesitant to try them because I am not a fan of octopus, but Paulina talked me into trying hers… it was delicious!
Topped with a teriyaki type sauce, bonito flakes and a little mayo, it was great – the octopus was fresh, and was not chewy or super fishy tasting – it was just right! I’d eat it again.
Tummies full, we went home… I edited photos and a few hours later Paulina, Zack and I went for a walk and got CoCo Curry to go, ate at home and now I’m getting ready for bed. Paulina dubbed the day a “snackventure” and it was indeed!
Livin’ The Life in Ginza… or at least pretending to! (Japan – Autumn 2018 Day 8)
Four days ago I read that one of my favorite soft vinyl toy artists had a show at the FewMany shop in Loft – on the 6th floor and I hoped that it was still active.
It was with these hopes that I arrived in Ginza with Paulina at my side, and these hopes were crushed when I walked up to find that a new art exhibit had taken it’s place. I did have a consolation, however, because they had a nice selection of VAG gasha machines that I was very happy to find!
I dashed to the cashier and got change, dashed back to the machines and made my selections!
I ended up with one new Morris, a duplicate Morris, two Konatsu special run sea otters (one of which I gave to a special friend) and one of those baby tart things that creep me out, but I have to get because I do love creepy things.
Paulina and I decided to roam around, so we headed to the main street where all of the upscale stores are… we contented ourselves with taking photos of the buildings and not actually shopping haha! So that I am not posting a bunch of boring photos of buildings, here are just two:
I made a friend while roaming around in Ginza – why does this Daruma have a mustache? We may never know, but he’s adorable regardless.
Whilst roaming around we made plans to meet up with Chris for dinner and he also suggested that we go to the Ginza Six observatory… I am very glad that he did because that place was fantastic!
The views were awesome…
This rooftop was so nice – grass, trees and plants everywhere, water features and plenty of opportunities for photographs and selfies too.
Oh, I should post a few photos that I took:
After a long while taking in the beautiful views, we moved on to dinner. Since I was craving noodles, Chris suggested that we go to a place that specializes in Udon dishes that happened to be nearby… Tsuru Ton Tan Udon. I was excited to try a place that had udon as their focus, since I’ve never had Udon outside of pre-packaged meals or mediocre fast food.
This place was INCREDIBLE! Not only was the view great but the food was affordable and definitely high-end… I would expect the prices to be double for food of this quality back in the States.
After dinner a sleepy Chris bid us a good night… Paulina and I continued on to UNIQLO to look for presents and Disney shirts, respectively.
After the partially successful shopping side quest we decided to go home… on our way to the station we heard the sound of some very hot cars coming down the street, and they stopped half a block in the opposite direction but needless to say we HAD to go see these awesome cars and I was blown away by two gorgeous Lamborghinis!
Thus ended our day in Ginza on what was definitely a high note! We took our tired feet back toward the train station and saw many a salary man also doing the same (and a few that were possibly drunk from post-work dinner and drinks!)
Laid Back Day (Japan – Autumn 2018 Day 7)
It was just one of those mornings where I did not want to do or think about anything important… so I didn’t. Well, sort of.
Our AirBnB has been cozy but also not healthy – the entire bottom floor has a moisture problem, which I am certain is perpetuated by tennants not taking good care to ventilate the place and the owner not properly cleaning. The shower area was a disaster… mold and mildew everywhere, and I don’t mean just a little… A LOT.
Cleaning supplies were purchased… and I spent almost two hours yesterday morning just scrubbing the shower and tub area.
T W O H O U R S. It’s a small area too but there is tile and every single tile grout surface had mold. I was really tired after that so I took a shower and rested, then tidied up in one of the living areas. For someone who doesn’t have kids, I surely get into “mom” mode a lot.
The guys had been out at Karaoke the night before and all had hangovers… Paulina and I made plans to meet up with Chris for lunch at A Happy Pancake – a restaurant that serves soufflé pancakes! I have been seeing videos for a couple of years about them… Simon and Martina’s video on YouTube stands out as the one that REALLY made me want to try these pancakes. You can watch that here:
Paulina and I took a train to Omotesando…
we had some time to kill before meeting up with Chris so we decided to walk around the winding backstreets of the area to look at the trendy shops where you can find all manner of things… from used clothing to high end fashion and every item in between.
One of our destinations was B-Side Label, a store that I always make a point to visit when I am in Tokyo… their stickers are all made right there, and the artists that provide designs are all local as well so this makes me feel good about purchasing items there.
Every trip into this store is a sensory bombardment, from the colorful stickers and products to the employees filled with personality and friendly conversation… once again I forgot to actually take photos IN the store but here is a photo of the outside!
As per usual, I had a difficult time choosing exactly what labels would be coming home with me and to make the choice an even more difficult one, they had limited run Halloween editions of some of their favorite designs as well as new Halloween designs – that’s mostly what I purchased, since one they’re gone… they’re gone.
After spending a long while at B-Side, we wandered toward the main street toward Kiddeland and found some… unusual stickers on the pedestrian overpasses – this is one of the things that I enjoy about Omotesando & Harajuku… random stickers and grafitti.
We browsed Kiddeland and then heard from Chris that he had arrived near the location of the soufflé pancakes, so we met him there.
A Happy Pancake did not disappoint! The atmosphere was bright and refreshing – despite being on the basement level of a building, the green theming and large wall displaying photos and videos of outdoor scenes and plants set the mood for happy interaction – the three of us had a lovely time talking and consuming delicious foods.
I have never tasted a pancake quite like this – it’s texture is indeed similar to a soufflé but a bit more heavy… it has inspired me to try this out when I return to Vancouver in December… having never made a soufflé of any sort I cannot predict if my outcome will be a pleasant one or not but I have eaten enough soufflé to know if it’s actually good or not!
After pancakes I was craving some good coffee. Chris did a quick search online and found a trendy pour over place nearby. We walked to our destination and waited a half hour before we realized that this was more of an experience than anything… one person to guide you through the process of choosing your coffee and educating you on it’s origins… one person to make the coffee. There were six people ahead of us and it took 3 a half hour to get their coffee so we decided to look elsewhere and possibly come back to this place another day.
A new place for coffee was found fairly quickly… and just up the street a few blocks. It turned out to be a blessing because both the coffee and the chai that we tried were amazing – neither needed sugar added, a sign to me that this is superior coffee indeed.
Drinks at Higuma Doughnuts x Coffee Wrights were excellent! I definitely want to come back here and try the other drinks that they offer.
Chris departed after the consumption of coffee and chai, Paulina and I continued on to Harajuku in search of a store that Paulina wanted to visit called Alice on Wednesday.
As the name suggests, it was indeed an Alice in Wonderland themed shop, very cleverly decorated… lots of cute things here but nothing that particularly spoke to me. I’d like to have this table though:
Browsing done, we went to Takashita Dori, the main street in Harajuku. It was getting late and as it was a weekday, many shops were closed so it was not too crowded with people, which is a pleasant change from the usual.
Since businesses were starting to close, we decided to call it a night and took our tired feet home.
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden Was Open! (Japan – Autumn 2018 Day 6)
Cooler weather has arrived, though it is still warm and still quite humid. It feels great to me until the mid-afternoon, when I really start sweating and my hair freaks out. I swear… I just cannot look good while I’m in Japan in any other season than winter… naturally curly hair and humidity do not mix well so I get about half a day looking okay and unless I take pains to wash and actually style my hair in the afternoon, then it becomes a wild and woolly mane that is out of control. Because I do not like to fuss over my appearance for more than a very short while, I choose the wild hair rather than look my best. I wonder what this says about me as a person?
My compatriots woke about an hour after I did and we did not take too long to relax this morning since we wanted to make it out of the house and to Shinjuku with time enough to enjoy the park before it closes at 4pm.
Paulina, Fredrik and I went to our station (Hikifune) and jumped onto the train to Shinjuku. I had expressed the desire for a proper coffee as did Chris, so I looked online for a good place to go… and found a Blue Bottle Coffee right next to Shinjuku Station – oh the joy! They have really good coffee and I was surprised to see that they expanded from Northern California into Japan!
Chris suggested that he pick up the coffee, since he would arrive shortly before we would, since he was only coming from Shibuya. He also surprised us with some tasty pastries from a French bakery that was right next to Blue Bottle, which we saved to eat in the park.
Yes, we finally made it into Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden – wooooooooo!
I took SO MANY PHOTOS but I was not alone… Paulina is also a photographer and Chris has gotten the photography bug so it was nice to not feel rushed to move on when I was busy composing nice shots. Prepare yourself for a very photo heavy post today!
This was my second time in the gardens… the first being back in June of 2015 when Chris and I lived in Tokyo for 3 months. On that first visit I was solo, and spent the entire very hot day there. It was 91 degrees F with 90% humidity, and this time it was much cooler, and about 10% less humidity – much more pleasant weather for certain! Regardless of the weather, I feel like I could visit this garden over and over and never tire of it. I am VERY much looking forward to when the leaves start changing their colors – this is one of the gardens that I will definitely be going back to!
The 4 of us strolled the garden and stopped at a large field to enjoy our tasty French treats, and then strolled more…
We had quiet times
…. and silly times
and selfie times.
But mostly, plant times.
Oh, and cloud times too. So many beautiful clouds.
A couple was having kimono times. I’m pretty certain that we got better photos of them than they did of themselves. Thanks, Kimono Couple for giving me a nice photo subject!
Garden times with my special friends was so needed, and what a sharp contrast to the inner turmoil that I was experiencing the day before! I was feeling completely opposite emotionally and while physically I still wasn’t great, I was much better in comparison.
We were all pretty hungry at the end of our garden visit. Chris suggested Gyukatsu Motomura, another beef katsu restaurant. This place was special! At the table are pots made of pottery that they light up so there is an open flame in each pot. Each person gets to choose their own pot, which is topped with a slab of pottery – this slab gets VERY HOT…
The gyokatsu is breaded and quickly deep fried, then sliced up and served with many sides. You take slices of the breaded beef and place them on your hot slab of pottery where it sears the meat – you get to choose how well or not well you cook your meat!
The accompanying sides were delicious: Pickled vegetable, miso soup that I think may have had a beef base instead of fish, sweet mochi with what seemed like it had a syrup either made out of light molasses or maple, rice with barley and mountain potato which was in it’s stringy form of goodness – I do love mountain potato and on top of rice! OH YUMMERS! Two sauces were included as well… one that seemed like garlic and the other a sesame of some sort?
After dinner a very tired Chris said adieu… Paulina, Fredrik and I went to Flying Tiger, a store that has origins in Denmark. We found all manner of quirky and useful things! I was after a nail brush and a sleeve for my MacBook…. I found what I needed! A Llama MacBook sleeve came home with me, and I don’t even find the pink background too annoying! x
The three of us then went to Akihabara to meet up with Joy and Zach, who had been in arcades all day again… Fredrik left Paulina and I for a boys night out of karaoke with another friend from Sweden – Paulina and I went to a few arcades and then dragged our weary bodies back home with the intent to go to an Onsen in Asakusa, but once we were still and comfortable at home, we decided to not go anywhere.
I called it a night fairly early – no plans as of yet for the morrow except to find some useable wifi so that I can upload some photos to my blog posts!
Day #74 – A Photo A Day 2013
Another quick post for the day!
I snapped a quick photo as I was driving east on Hwy 14 in Vancouver, WA – Mt. Hood is in the distance:
Tangled FX with multiple effects layered, then I did a bit of a tilt-shift effect to soften the clouds and bring the focus down to the vanishing point.