Friday, January 27, 2006
When High Culture becomes Routine
Went to school, went to Kyoto...same old story...
Seriously, I've had a lifetime's worth of Kyoto lately. I appreciate history and culture as much as the next guy but come on already! I get the point! Everything starts to blur together after the third or fourth consecutive visit.
Alright, my personal exhaustion aside, today was a nice day with my sister and Brendan (ooh, is that with an a or o? I don't know) around the city. We took some advice from the Lonely Planet guide to Japan and took a bus over to the eastern side of the city for a "walking tour" of the area beginning with Kiyomizudera. This was my third visit to the temple (the first was last August, the second was three weeks ago) but once again I managed to do something a little different. On the advice from the book, we found a small, mysterious doorway to something called tainai meguri (胎内めぐり*). For a fee of 100 Yen, we walked into a corridor of total darkness before finding a stone (it was illuminated), turning it, and making a wish. The experience was thrilling as the complete absence of light added a genuine fear factor; I can honestly say I was worried something bad was going to happen to me inside that place.
*This literally means "tour inside the womb." Don't ask me what the stone represents!
Aside from that new experience it was "Kyoto as usual" today. We walked down the usual small streets, visited the usual souvenir shops and saw the occasional maiko (apprentice geisha). For dinner I gave Salena and Brendon their first taste of kaiten sushi which they thoroughly enjoyed. Brendan and I both enjoyed some horse meat but Salena chickened out. The strangest thing I actually ate was called "duck pastrami." Despite tasting totally different than "normal" pastrami, it made me pine once again for the giant sandwiches of home.
Tomorrow they leave Kyoto for Osaka which means we can finally get down to the Japan I love best: partying under the dazzling lights of Umeda. More good news: Mako is feeling better and the four of us are going to spend Sunday together. This will be my first "double date" ever!
PS: I almost forgot, here's a video of Salena and Brendan at the temple.
PPS: No one's been commenting lately, what's up? Has my writing become routine as well?
Seriously, I've had a lifetime's worth of Kyoto lately. I appreciate history and culture as much as the next guy but come on already! I get the point! Everything starts to blur together after the third or fourth consecutive visit.
Alright, my personal exhaustion aside, today was a nice day with my sister and Brendan (ooh, is that with an a or o? I don't know) around the city. We took some advice from the Lonely Planet guide to Japan and took a bus over to the eastern side of the city for a "walking tour" of the area beginning with Kiyomizudera. This was my third visit to the temple (the first was last August, the second was three weeks ago) but once again I managed to do something a little different. On the advice from the book, we found a small, mysterious doorway to something called tainai meguri (胎内めぐり*). For a fee of 100 Yen, we walked into a corridor of total darkness before finding a stone (it was illuminated), turning it, and making a wish. The experience was thrilling as the complete absence of light added a genuine fear factor; I can honestly say I was worried something bad was going to happen to me inside that place.
*This literally means "tour inside the womb." Don't ask me what the stone represents!
Aside from that new experience it was "Kyoto as usual" today. We walked down the usual small streets, visited the usual souvenir shops and saw the occasional maiko (apprentice geisha). For dinner I gave Salena and Brendon their first taste of kaiten sushi which they thoroughly enjoyed. Brendan and I both enjoyed some horse meat but Salena chickened out. The strangest thing I actually ate was called "duck pastrami." Despite tasting totally different than "normal" pastrami, it made me pine once again for the giant sandwiches of home.
Tomorrow they leave Kyoto for Osaka which means we can finally get down to the Japan I love best: partying under the dazzling lights of Umeda. More good news: Mako is feeling better and the four of us are going to spend Sunday together. This will be my first "double date" ever!
PS: I almost forgot, here's a video of Salena and Brendan at the temple.
PPS: No one's been commenting lately, what's up? Has my writing become routine as well?
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1.) I like the multiple spellings of Brend(a/o)n!
2.) I would never have been able to do that total darkness thing. Too much anxiety. And I don't think I could have enjoyed the horsemeat either. So, yay for you!
3.) You say things are getting routine, but don't forget-- YOU ARE IN JAPAN!!! Hello?!?!
Anyway, enjoy the double date! I still want to know what your dad brought Mako.
And I've been commenting (I think?) so I can't answer your last question.
:)
h
2.) I would never have been able to do that total darkness thing. Too much anxiety. And I don't think I could have enjoyed the horsemeat either. So, yay for you!
3.) You say things are getting routine, but don't forget-- YOU ARE IN JAPAN!!! Hello?!?!
Anyway, enjoy the double date! I still want to know what your dad brought Mako.
And I've been commenting (I think?) so I can't answer your last question.
:)
h
Dude, that whole day sounds incroyable! It's an "a" for Brendan, not the "o" as in 90210 Brandon. Kudos to you guys on the horsemeat. What did it taste like?
Haven't commented on site lately cause I haven't had time to read it. But then I was missing your sister's presence and I remembered you might be cataloguing her visit so I took a look! I'm very happy right now. Tell her and Brendan for me that the Otto thing didn't work out, even though he didn't smell funny on the second date. Oh, and that video is hot.
Have to go make breakfast now for 11 people. Eggs need to be coddled, bread must be toasted, muffins to be made!
Haven't commented on site lately cause I haven't had time to read it. But then I was missing your sister's presence and I remembered you might be cataloguing her visit so I took a look! I'm very happy right now. Tell her and Brendan for me that the Otto thing didn't work out, even though he didn't smell funny on the second date. Oh, and that video is hot.
Have to go make breakfast now for 11 people. Eggs need to be coddled, bread must be toasted, muffins to be made!
Hyde - The darkness thing was surprisingly scary, yes. But I know you could have done it, if only to try it once. Same goes for the horsemeat, although having eaten it a few times now I'm starting to realize that it's not all that good.
Squid - Thanks, I figured it out by watching him fill out a form. I'm not good at describing tastes, but I can tell you it certainly doesn't taste like chicken. Indeed, I think I'm done with it; the novelty is gone.
コメントがあります？ Type something, please. It's less work for me.Squid - Thanks, I figured it out by watching him fill out a form. I'm not good at describing tastes, but I can tell you it certainly doesn't taste like chicken. Indeed, I think I'm done with it; the novelty is gone.
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