We're Engaged!!!

On Tuesday, at Kiyomizudera in Kyoto, Jake proposed to me and I said yes!!! We are so excited. Kiyomizudera was Jakes favorite sight in Kyoto from his last trip, and it was the temple I was most looking forward to seeing. It is built high into the side of a mountain, with amazing views of the whole city of Kyoto. Because of Nihonbarre, the weather was absolutely beautiful for our visit there.

One of the things you can see at Kiyomizudera is Jishu Jinga, or the Love Shrine. Jishu Jinja is two stones, about 18 meters apart from each other, and it is said that if you can close your eyes and walk safely from one stone to the other, then you will find true love. Jake asked me if I wanted to try and walk. I was a little bit skeptical because there didn't seem to be anyone else doing it, but there were a million people walking back and forth between them to get to the shops that lined either side. I was pretty sure that if I tried I would just walk into people. Jake promised that he would make sure I didn't, so I closed my eyes and started walking. Jake gave me directions so I stayed in a straight line, and helped me to avoid the crowds of people crossing. When I reached the second stone and opened my eyes, he was down on one knee in front of me holding up the most beautiful ring. He asked me to marry him, and because I wasn't sure I could talk I just nodded and gave him a hug. I don't think I've stopped smiling since.

Hooray for nihonbarre!

We got up early on Wednesday to make the most of our last day in Kyoto. As i do every morning, I checked weather.com for some insight as to how the day was going to be. The result, as i had expected, 100% chance of precipitation all the way through until 7 pm, when we were planning on leaving, then it was going to miraculously clear up as we headed back to Tokyo. So we dressed for cold rain, rolled up our pant legs, grabbed the umbrellas and headed out the door. We checked out of the hotel and had them hold our bags to be picked up later.

It wasn't raining outside, but it looked like it could at any second, so we hopped a cab and headed to Ginkakuji to try and get at least one temple in before the eminent downpour. We arrived at the gates just before they opened and were the first people to walk in. Ginkakuji is also known as the silver pavilion. This building itself is a copy of the gold pavilion without the gold. Contrary to the name, it doesn't actually have any silver on it either - just wood. In fact the pavillion itself was under construction as they were re-roofing and doing repairs. What makes this sight special is the garden and surrounding grounds. It was a treat to be able to walk through this treasure without hordes of other onlookers around. Everything seems so peaceful and not one leaf looks out of place. There are also two sand sculptures that must be constantly maintained especially with the recent rain. We saw some of the staff with brooms in hand helping to keep everything perfect and pick up fallen leaves to allow all of the magnificent moss to be exposed. The path around the grounds leads up a tree covered hill and offers some great views of the valley below. We were having the temples calligraphy and stamp done in Erica's book as a group of loud school kids were entering. It made us appreciate our early start even more.

Nihonbarre is a japanese term meaning the cleansing of japan. It is used to refer to the day after a typhoon has passed, and the weather is perfect. It became apparent as we were leaving Ginkakuji that today was in fact Nihonbarre. We have had the pleasure of experiencing this event twice in our trip. We have also had the misfortune of experiencing a typhoon twice during our stay as well. Our current situation was a reminder of how inaccurate weather.com can be as we were both dressed inappropriately for the beautiful day that we were going to have and had to carry around our umbrellas even though we wouldn't need them - ce la vie.

Just down the hill from Ginkakuji is the beginning of "tetsugaku no michi" loosely translated to the path of philosophy, which is a small sleepy path next to a canal along the base of the mountain. The path pointed us back in the direction of the hotel so we walked along. The walk is extremely pleasant, quiet and without much foot traffic. We passed maybe 10 people while following the canal for the next mile or so. Covered by trees, with the sound of the flowing water the entire distance, it was really nice and relaxing.

We continued walking through some back streets and saw some beautiful homes as well as passed some less well known temples and shrines. As we turned a corner we could see the hotel so we headed there to catch a cab to our next point of interest - Kyomizudera.

TokyoBilly

Billy wrote up a post about our visit on his blog TokyoBilly! Check it out to hear about our trip from a different point of view, and also to see some more pictures!

More Temples and Animal Adventures in Kyoto!

Tuesday was another gray rainy day in Kyoto. Apparently our trip coincided with Typhoon #15, which was the cause for our lovely weather. Jake and I were determined to make the best of it, so we rolled up our pants, grabbed our rain coats and umbrellas and headed out anyway.

We took the hotel shuttle back to Kyoto station (which, for some unknown reason, I consistently call "the airport"), and from there we caught the train to Nara. Nara is about an hour away from Kyoto, and it's known for two things. 1: the many beautiful temples and shrines that can be found there. and 2: Deer. Nara is filled with these deer, that just roam around everywhere you go! Their antlers are trimmed down, and they seem very calm (sedated?) for wild deer. It's so crazy that you can just walk right up to them, and they don't run away.

The main thing that Jake and I wanted to see in Nara was Todai-Ji, which was 2.3 km from the station. Despite the rain, we opted to walk rather than grab a bus. On the way there, we passed through Kofuku-ji, a huge temple complex. Kofuku-ji used to be made up of over 125 buildings, however only twelve are left standing today. The most impressive is the beautiful 5 story Pagoda.

Leading up to Todai-Ji is a road lined with small vendor stalls selling souvenirs, deer cookies (for the deer, not people) and, Jake's favorite, Green Tea ice cream. Jake wanted a cone, so we stopped and got some. We stood just in front of the stall, and ate our ice cream, while we watched two tourists feed the deer. We were laughing at how bold the deer were. These poor tourists were quickly surrounded by deer, and the woman, who was holding the food, was getting nipped in the butt by deer who thought she wasn't giving out the food fast enough! The people quickly finished up and hurried along down the road. At this point, one of the deer glanced in our direction, and decided that maybe he would like some ice cream as well! He looked us dead in the eye, and started walking towards us, ever so slowly. Jake and I didn't know what to do, so we just sort of backed up into the stall, and eventually Jake had to hold his umbrella out in front of him to hold the deer off! Just as the deer was about to actually come into the stall with us, the woman running the place came running out from behind us, banging the ground with a huge stick and yelling at the deer to scare him away! Then she turned to us, and calmly said "So sorry!" We couldn't help but laugh, and we decided it was best to throw the rest of our ice cream away and head for the temple.

The main hall of Todai-Ji is the largest wooden structure in the world. Contained within is one of the largest bronze statues in the world, a Daibatsu standing almost 16 meters tall. The building is set up so that you can walk all the way around the statue. It's an amazing thing to see, and one of my favorite parts of Japan so far.

After Todai-ji, we headed back to the station, and from there took a train to Inari, where we visited Fushimi-Inari Taisha. This is one of the craziest sights I have ever seen. It is a series of tunnels made out of bright vermilion tori gates, each carved with a unique inscription. Jake and I had a great time walking through the tunnels, although the rain did make it a bit treacherous at times. Fushimi-Inari Taisha is built into the side of a mountain, so there are lots of steep stone staircases that need to be climbed, and when they get wet, they get slippery! Luckily we made it through without any accidents.

By this time it was starting to get dark, so we headed back to Kyoto. We were both grateful to get back to the hotel and into dry clothes.

Monkeying around in Kyoto

Monday morning came extremely fast as we had to be up by 5am and be ready to leave the hotel at 6. We took a train to Tokyo station and then boarded the Shinkansen (bullet train) which left for Kyoto promptly at 7am. In my opinion this is the best way to get to Kyoto as the alternative night bus takes about 10 hours and costs only 30% less than shinkansen tickets. The train takes 3 hours, so it is more than 60% faster but only 30% more expensive - the time you save makes it very worth while.

We slept most of the way and before we knew it we were in Kyoto by 10am. We spent some time in the station itself. You have to see this place to believe it. It stretched way above the city skyline and includes a hotel, shopping mall and department store. It has all manner of restaurants, travel agents, info booths and stores. The architecture is very modern and is a stark contrast to the old temples and shrines that the city is known for. We got a quick snack, placed our luggage in a locker (since we couldn't check into the hotel until after 3) and headed out to explore Kyoto.

We had decided to start in the northwest corner of the city with one of the most famous attractions - Kinkakuji. This is also known as the golden pavilion. We took a bus from the station which was labeled express (not really as express as you would think) and within 30 minutes we were at the gates to the complex. At this point I can mention that it was raining, not heavily but raining none the less. This was going to cramp our style a bit since there was bound to be quite a bit of walking to do.

The gold pavilion is beautiful. It sits on a picturesque pond within a perfectly manicured environment. it is hard to believe anyone can keep things that perfect without any crew visible. we walked around the grounds for a bit, taking as many pictures as we could and then headed out to the street. We walked to our next sightseeing spot - Ryoanji. Ryoanji is a temple complex but it is most well known for its impressive zen garden. The garden is full of small pebbles that are raked into perfect straight lines except for when they meet the large rock and moss areas. The whole spot is very peaceful even when full of tourists. Erica and I broke out our Kyoto book to decide what to do next. We decided on a spot a bit south west of Ryoanji near the river. We walked from the temple around a beautiful pond and about a half mile to a small train station.

The train was really more of a tram. It was a small rickety single car that poked along at a rather slow pace. The engine seemed to be hiccuping and making all manner of odd noises on the way. We had to change to yet another tram (identical in every way, including noises) and arrived at Arashiyama about 30 minutes later.

From here we walked across a bridge and to the entry of our destination - the monkey park. There was a small set of stairs and an even smaller shrine outside the gate. Surprisingly no one was there. We bought our tickets and headed through a gate and up some old brick stairs. Then our climb began. We walked up a hill then up a long set of stairs and around the mountain. All along the way seeing signs about not feeding the monkeys or even showing them food, also not to stare at the monkeys. I had to laugh - i mean we have seen things like this in the states. Signs leading you to believe that maybe you are in a little danger only to realize that you are all too safe. At this point i am prepared not to see any monkeys at all as we had seemingly climbed half way up monkey mountain and hadn't seen or heard a fricken monkey.

Just when i thought we were nearing the top i could see that we were only half way. Now began a long series of switchbacks up the remainder of the climb. It was fairly treacherous as the rain made it slick and not all areas had hand rails or guard rails. If you weren't careful you could get hurt. We were taking a breather and i turned to look below at are path. There, right where we had been walking only moments before, was a monkey. We aren't talking small rhesus monkey here, this thing looked to be the size of my dog. I was shocked - Erica was shocked. Perhaps my skepticism was unwarranted, at least we saw one monkey though it was far away and had waited until we left to reveal itself.

We went through another set of switch backs and suddenly a monkey started screaming from a tree just behind Erica. She screamed, i jumped, now we realized that the situation was different - there were monkeys, big monkeys and we had yet to see a single person. As we rounded the last switchback and could partially see the safehouse at the top of the hill the situation was fully realized; 2 people versus 50 or so of our simian cousins. They didn't seem afraid of us at all - in fact it was quite the opposite. I have to admit that the thought crossed my mind of the two of us being killed by angry 60 pound mini gorillas, especially since the signs had explicitly noted not to stare at them. We had come too far to turn back so we moved up the path and finally someone came out of the safehouse as i was certain we were about to be overrun by monkeys - he looked at me and said "Please, just inside now". We weren't asking any questions just averted our eyes from the monkeys and walked quickly inside.

Inside the safehouse you can buy some food (for yourself or the monkeys) and rest for a bit. We decided to buy some monkey food and as soon as the 100 yen coin hit the counter the windows were crawling with monkeys. All of the windows were covered in fencing and had a wooden shelf which you could place food on. There were signs showing you the proper way to feed them and handy tidbits like how to avoid injury to your face - good to know. The monkeys all had the same shtick. They would climb to the window, mothers would bring their babies clutched to them for extra effect. They would stretch their hands in and beckon while the look on their faces was one of "i know you are gonna feed me so just give me the fricken food already". We tried to take lots of pictures and after 45 minutes we decided to head on to our next stop. One of the workers escorted us outside to point the way down and made a monkey pose with us for a picture. We carefully climbed back down the path and back out to the river.

We spent the next 30 minutes or so walking to the bamboo forest. This was a beautiful sight. The bamboo is 50 feet high and is so dense it would be hard to walk between the stalks. We then decided to walk to the JR station to use our rail pass and get back to Kyoto station and check in to the hotel. Well the first station we came to wasn't the right one. So we kept walking. The rain had gotten harder and the next 45 minutes were extremely long. By the time we got back to Kyoto station we were drenched and tired. We retrieved our bags from the locker and waited for the shuttle to the hotel. It was great to finally get into some dry clothes. Our first day in Kyoto was definitely a memorable one and we were looking forward to the rest of our stay, despite the fact that it was going to rain the whole time.

(stay tuned for the next post about Tuesday and deer)

Billy style dinner

We had been cramming a lot into each day here in Japan, so on Sunday we didn't do too much. Slept in, got breakfast, did a little shopping back in Harajuku and then headed to Higashi Nakano to meet with Billy and have dinner at his place.

Billy met us at the station and we started walking in the direction of his apartment. We passed some interesting little places including "Parm Tree" with pictures of palm trees on the store front. The place was closed, so i have no idea what the do and or sell. We stopped at a place called Life. Life is kind of an all in one store - the first floor sells clothes and all sorts of things and downstairs is a full fledged grocery store. We headed downstairs to pick up items for dinner. We bought 3 different types of fish (salmon, tuna and a third fish that was seared), rice, udon, carrots, daikon, cucumber, goma dressing, lemon, rice, eggs, green onion, wasabe, ginger, udon sauce, OJ, ginger ale, edemame, gyoza and some ice cream bars. It was a lot of food and the pricing was extremely reasonable. We then walked back to Billy's apartment which was less than a mile away. Luckily the rain held off until we got inside.

We started prepping the food while we waited for Marc to arrive. Chopped veggies for salad, chopped fish, made rice etc. It should be noted that most of the work was done by Erica and Billy. I was in charge of edemame and udon boiling. Everyone should be thankful that i didn't have to do any real cooking. We also watched some US TV shows on Billy's computer. When Marc Arrived it was time to eat.

We started with a salad of Cucumber, Daikon and carrot with goma dressing. We also had edemame and gyoza, then moved on to fish. The salmon was marinated in lemon juice, salt and olive oil. It was very tasty and light. The tuna was raw then dipped in egg (also raw) and then dipped in hot rice before eating - also delicious. The seared fish was delicious on its own. The udon was served cold and dipped into the sauce with ginger, wasabe and green onion - awesome. We finished things up with the ice cream. Needless to say, we were all stuffed after that.

Once dinner was complete we chilled and watched some more TV - the office, 30 rock and californication. Billy also let us contribute to his apple tree painting. So now Erica and I have our own apples at Billy's, stop by his place if you want to see and add your own. Later on we headed back to Shinjuku to pack for our Kyoto trip on Monday.

Thanks Billy for your hospitality - dinner was awesome.

The Coolest Park Ever

On Saturday Jake and I met up with Marc and Billy in Kichijoji, and then rode the train out to Tachikawa. Billy told us that this was home to an amazing park called Showa kinen, so of course we had to go check it out. I must say, even Billy's glowing description of this place didn't do it justice. We walked up to what I thought was the park, and Billy informed us that this was only the pre-park - a free area where anyone could hang out. To go into the actual park, you had to pay 400 yen, so a lot of people just chose to hang out in this area. It made sense to me, as this pre-park area looked nicer than all of Piedmont Park. Once we got into the park, Billy suggested we rent bicycles to help us get around. Jake was a little skeptical at first, but once Billy explained that the park was really too big to walk around, he got on board. We each paid 410 yen for a bike for 3 hours, and we hit the trails. The park is enormous, and every inch of it is perfectly cared for. It was so nice to just ride around and take everything in. Our first stop in the park was the Children's forest. In the parks I'm used to, the kids area is usually just some swings, a jungle gym and maybe some of those little animals on springs that you can ride. Maybe in a really nice park, you'll have one of those big wooden castle like things for kids to play in. Ya, this park put all of that to shame. The first part of the Children's forest we came to was this field with little hills built into it at regular intervals, and a huge mist making machine. The mist would fill up the whole area, and kids could run around and hide between the hills. It was crazy. Then we went over to the fuwa-fuwa dome. Basically, this is a humongous white cloud like thing that is half bouncy bounce and half trampoline. Adults can go on this thing as well, and I have to tell you, it was a lot of fun! After that we walked over to the Sand Dragon area, which was basically a huge sandbox, with these enormous dragon sculptures built to look like they were swimming through the ground. The dragons were't just sculptures though - they had tunnels and slides built into them, so you could crawl all around them.

That was pretty much it for the kids area, so we all got back on our bikes and rode around a bit more. We rode past the BBQ area. Apparently, you can reserve a BBQ area (you have to do it pretty far in advance), and you just tell them how many people, and they provide everything from the grill to the paper plates to the food. How convenient is that?? And it smelled delicious as we went by. Eventually we came to the part of the park they called the open field, which is exactly what it sounds like. We laid our blanket down, and Marc, Billy and Jake spent some time throwing a football around. Then Billy showed us some card tricks that he's learned. Who knew Billy was a magician??

It was getting close to the time that we needed to return the bikes, but there was still so much more to the park that Billy wanted to show us. We rode quickly over to the water area of the park. This part was already closed for the summer, but it was still fun to look around. It was a huge water park right in the park, complete with gigantic slide, lazy river, and this crazy rope net mountain thing that sprayed water. I cannot believe that people can come hang out and use all of this stuff for only 400 yen- that's about $4.00!!!!! If I was a little kid living in Tokyo, I would beg my parents to take me there every day.

Next to the water park, there is a lake with little paddle boats that you can rent, so we rode over there to look around, but then it was time to return our bikes. We never even got to see the sports area of the park, which is filled with games like horseshoes and bocce ball. This really was the craziest park I've ever been to. It was such a fun day, and I'm glad we got to experience this part of Tokyo.

For dinner that night, Marc and Billy took us to a place in Shibuya for Yakuniku. At yakuniku, you have a little grill built into your table. There was a buffet set up of all different kinds of raw meat and vegetables, and you fill up your plate, bring it back to the table and cook it all up. It's one of Billy's favorites because he loves meat, and he loves grilling, and it's not really something you get to do much of in Tokyo. We had fun trying the different meats and trying to figure out which was the best. We didn't know what anything was because all of the signs at the buffet were in Japanese, but the one we decided was best was the ka re be.

After dinner we walked over to a place that had all kinds of games that you could play - things like bowling and darts, and of course karaoke. We decided to rent a ping pong table for a while. Ping Pong is not my best game, so I didn't do so well, but I still had fun. By this time it was already time for last train, so we all had to head home.