Japan Tour: Kyoto Part 1 & End

Thursday, March 26-Friday, March 27: DIY Kyoto Day, KIK > TPE > ORD

Our last full day in Japan was a free day in Kyoto on Thursday, so we luxuriated in a later 9am breakfast (and saw many others of our group doing the same!). We fetched second coffee at a nearby Starbucks and savored our final Sakura match doughnut.

I spent several hours in the morning doing homework while Mr. E worked on packing and figuring out the necessary Tetris arrangement to fit all of our new stuff in the bags!

Then we headed off to Kyoto Station and bought tickets for the train to Osaka airport for the next day. We explored the expansive and airy station as we climbed up to the sky deck and then stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant on the upper level food court. Thanks to Google translate and my basic Japanese, I was able to communicate about my allium allergy with the very friendly and patient server, so we had a lovely lunch with seafood, tofu, and veggies.

The station had views from so many perspectives, including a big window in the lounge area of the ladies' restroom! We crossed over the sky bridge to descend on the other side of the station and discovered the amazing Lego model and view to the Kyoto Tower.

 

For more views, we visited the Tokyo Tower across the street before taking the subway to the famous Nishiki Market to stroll through all of the food and craft stalls.

After walking back to the hotel, we attempted to have Happy Hour in the lobby bar while I did more homework, but that area and the restaurant were mostly booked for two private parties, meaning that no dinner service was available for hotel guests. Grr! Why wasn't there some sort of info or warning provided about that??? I finished up some homework in my room, and we then walked a few blocks to the Courtyard Marriott to have dinner at their restaurant, Le Bon Vivre. We enjoyed great service and yummy food with a cheese plate, nicoise salad, and steak frites. We struck out on the Sakura macaron but were still quite pleased with the meal.

When we got back to the hotel, there was just enough time for Mr. E to hit last call at the lobby bar before we watched an episode of "Scarpetta" and then wrapped up the evening.

On Friday, we grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and then left at 7:45am to make sure we could catch our 8:22am train to Osaka Airport (KIX). We took the JR Haruka train that just happened to have special Hello Kitty decor, so of course I thought of R when I saw all of that.  

We were too early to check in for our flight on Eva Airlines to Taipei, so we wandered around a bit and Mr. E bought a strap to help secure Bean since we were checking that bag in for the return trip. We almost had to check in our other carry-on bags due to weight limits, but we managed to talk our way out of that by assuring the staff that we'd redistribute items among the bags to even things out. Phew!

Then we checked out the lounge and I got some more homework done while Mr. E explored and found a few more Lucky Cats to add last-minute to our ever-growing collection. The flight from KIX to TPE was only 2.5 hours and included a tasty Japanese cuisine lunch. I watched a great French movie, L'Inconnu de la Grande Arche, about the architect who designed the Arche de la Défense in Paris.

During our 4+ hour layover in Taipei, we enjoyed the offerings in the lounge, including a bunch of steamed veges (which we'd been missing so much!), and I did more homework and also caught up on some work email. Then we had our 13.5 hour flight to O'Hare with more Hello Kitty swag (slippers)!

We both had the International menu meal for dinner, and I later had just some fruit and crackers for breakfast. I managed to get nearly seven hours of sleep in the comfy lie-flat pod and also watched two enjoyable films: The Shadow's Edge (action movie with Jackie Chan) and the Chinese comedy Number 2. We made it home to the kitties in the evening and crashed pretty quickly after all of the travel.

Lots of new experiences to reflect on, and we definitely want to go back to revisit a couple of spots and explore more of the vast and diverse country. And since I'm planning to continue my Japanese classes, my language skills should be much improved by our next trip! 

Japan Tour: Kyoto Part 1

Tuesday, March 24-Wednesday, March 25: Pottery, Himeji Castle, Homework, Torii Gates, Tea, Buddhas

We had another early start at 7:45am on Tuesday and lots of bus time again as we made our way from Hiroshima to Kyoto. Our first stop was in Bizen, where we learned about the very special artisan pottery. The makers use a special clay harvested from rice fields and work for two years before completing the firing process. In this time, they create nearly 10,000 different items. We got to visit and learn about the process then they were about to start the firing using their traditional kilns and only wood. The process will take two weeks, and they expect about 50% breakage! For this pottery, they don't use any glaze because of the shrinkage that occurs during the firing process, so it's just the ash and the position in the kiln that create the colors and patterns. The rough texture and imperfections are valued and considered a sign of artistry and the uniqueness of these wares. Fascinating!

Our afternoon stop was at Himeji Castle, but we had time for lunch before our group visit to the site. We found the cute Harry & Marie cafe, which didn't have a lot of options for me but was close and had indoor seating, so we made it work, and the Sakura soft serve was delicious! A bunch of our fellow group members ended up there, too, likely for the same reasons. We decided not to go into the castle but instead enjoyed strolling around the grounds. I found the symbols for the restrooms quite charming! And I found someone's cellphone in the ladies' restroom and managed to communicate just enough with a staff person to turn it in.

Then it was back to the bus for the drive to Kyoto. I took advantage of the time to get started on my homework for the week, since my Spring Break was over and I needed to resume my usual class schedule.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kyoto, which is obviously VERY popular with tour groups because there were a lot of people and bags all arriving at the same time! We decided not to wait for the elevator and instead grabbed a table in the lobby bar area for cocktails and more homework time for me. Mr. E socialized some more with the friendly sister duo and their spouses whom we'd connected with earlier in the trip. I ordered the salmon entree for dinner and then headed up to my room to settle in and wrap up the day. Mr. E went out with the foursome to a nearby Irish Pub, which had good food but apparently was very smoky. I'm glad I didn't join them!

This hotel was decorated in a really lovely Japanese style with sliding screens and lots of natural wood. And the info about housekeeping and security was inscribed on a wooden lucky cat!!!

On Wednesday, our departure wasn't until 8:20am, so we had more time for breakfast and were pleased to see the steamed veges offerings but still struck by a remarkable lack of fruit. The restaurant was VERY busy, but we managed to get a table and had just enough time for food and coffee. Our first stop of the day was at a Shinto shrine with thousands of Torii gates (and lots of tourists, too).

Then we went to a Buddhist temple for a traditional tea ceremony, which was truly lovely and peaceful. We learned about the ritual for making and serving matcha, including the special equipment and motions involved in the ceremony.

Today was one of the few days that lunch was included, so our group returned to the hotel for the meal. I had a salmon option with fruit (!) for dessert, and Mr. E had the standard chicken teriyaki with rice and ice cream.

The afternoon included a visit to the Golden Temple and the temple with 1,000 Buddhas. I was a bit late finishing up at that last one because I was trying to read some of the signs. Oops! This was one of the few rainy days we had during the tour, so I'm glad we had our umbrellas.

We had some time to walk around the Gion area and still made it back to the hotel in time for Happy Hour. I asked the front desk if they had any of the wooden lucky cats for sale, and the staff gave me a blank one for free! What a unique souvenir to add to the collection!

We went to Lawson's and 7-11 to pick up some snacks for me, and then I finished off the evening with more homework in my room while Mr. E went out with the sister group for dinner again. The pub was less smoky this time around!