Kyoto musings

Kyoto is an interesting city. Up until 150 years ago it was the capital of Japan for 1500 years. Before that the capital was in a nearby town called Nara. Kyoto is an anagram of Tokyo, at least in English. The streets are unhurried and very wide footpaths that are at least double the size of ours with dedicated bike lanes.

I do like this place.

Ate a lot and looked at shops a lot. They have at least one dangerous place here called Yodobashi Cameras. I think it it a national chain. Think of the biggest Myer ground floor in a capital city and the at least quadruple it. Then add 6 floors. When you come into to the ground floors instead of names like Revlon, Shisedo etc coming into view you see Nikon, Canon, Sony. Every model you can think including film. Every accessory any human can think of for photography meets you. There are staff running actually serving and providing advice and help. Nothing is too difficult. Next few floors up have toys, games etc. The higher floors are for more mundane pursuits like air cons, washing machines etc.

A very dangerous place indeed. We had to perform recon here at least 10+ times including having to buy something urgently at 930pm on Sunday night :-)

It was day 3 and 4 now in Japan. We got a bit asianed out on food so we had KFC for lunch. The chicken and variety was great, the chips were a little mundane compared to back home, not so much MSG, if any. We continued that theme in the evening. We went to Maccas. Dom had an Ebi burger, (prawns) in a meal. I overloaded and had a double quarter pounder meal which cost $7.

Blogs have slowed, lots of travel. More coming soon.

Strange but true, in Kyoto

Not in any particular order, haven't worked out how to arrange the photographs.

Beauty pelvis, I've always been a firm supporter of this, myself.

Have any part of the cow you want, just point it out.

5 wheeled bicycle....

Boogaloo cafe.

A Cessna Skylane cut perfectly in half above a shop.

The womb shop, not sure how well this chain will go.

Civilised, a smoking room outside a department store.

Felt important for the day.

Temple to business, Inari Shrine

Interesting concept. A temple to the gods, with a business major. Apparently lots of business people come here and pray for business to be good. About 1.3 million around new years.. If business is good they come back and sponsor these Tori Gates. Business must be good, takes two hour to walk to the top of the hill and back, apparently. On the way up you look in awe. On the way down you see the sponsors names on the back. That's business.

Interesting Kyoto temple

Went to Kiyomizu Temple. There are historic Buddha relics there. Perched on the side of a hill, amongst magnificent scenery. Apart from navigating up the hill and moving through lots of mid week tourists, another adventure awaits. As best I can work it out, it's a visit to the 'belly of the Buddha'. You take your shoes off and head down a steep set of stairs with just a railing of sorts on the left. It becomes totally dark as you go down and the stairs turn left and right and go up and down. The hand rail becomes large beads that swing, still no light, you can here other people but not touch them. You dare not drop anything. After a few minutes walking, you reach a large, smooth round rock with just a hint of what might be starlight above it. You are supposed to make a wish and touch it before moving on. Probably another another minute of navigating stairs in the dark following the beaded hand rail and you come out. I won't say it was a spiritual experience but strangely calming. I enjoyed the visit here. You can see the modern skyline of Kyoto, but you could be a thousand miles and several hundred years away if you don't look at it.

Colours of Kyoto

What a city of contrasts. Starting the day with a drive to Kinkaju, the golden temple. Real gold leaf about 20kg. Built by an emperor who liked boats. Set amongst beautiful fall colours.

Internet on the road, hotels

Travelling with tech can present challenges, sometimes simple, sometimes more difficult. We have two iPhones, one iPad, one notebook computer and they all want power and Internet.

Buying a 2 meter power cable with multiple sockets at the end from the supermarket. A lot of hotels provide a single cable for Internet. How do you split it? Go to a japanese phone shop and spend 3000 yen, $35 on a personal router/ wireless access point. This is the smallest, smartest and cheapest device I have ever seen or heard of. Menus in Japanese, but once you have seen a router, you get by. I had dreams about a device like this and now found one.

Lunch in Kyoto today

Went in the search of the holey grail of Ramen today. Where else in the world do you see a sign in a major railway station that says Shinkansen, Kyoto downtown, large department store and RAMEN. Well the railway station is massive and is said to contain over 1000 works of art visible as well as a great hotel, Granvia and Kyoto station. As you ascend 5 escalators you end up on the tenth level, seemingly on your way to heaven, a virtual Disney of Ramen is within reach.

Delightful and cheap. You're out of luck if you don't eat pork.... People queue.

Temple in Kyoto

Came across a big celebration of Buddhism in Kyoto today at the Higashi Hongan-ji temple. Lots of people, no fuss. Listening to the monks chanting was wonderful. Lovely setting, photos will download from camera later. The fall colours are late this year, good for us!

How good is a Shinkansen..

Today we had to travel from Osaka to Kyoto, about 45kms. Would take about 30 minutes on an express train, takes 14 on a Shinkansen. They are truly wonderful. At the halfway point we were going over 200kms per hour, not even full speed. There are many different models, so will endeavour to collect photos and information on them later.

Breakfast in Osaka

How a mix of eastern and western flavours mix so well. Agadashi, tofu and wine based soy sauce, shallots, called agedashi. Smoked mackerel, smoked salmon, eggs, sausages. Yummy. Off course the yummy sauce you soak up with a French baguette..

Cheap dinner in Osaka

I wanted some curry and some meat. Got pork, Currey, rice, green tea and water 580¥, just over $6.

Nice views from largest ferris wheel in world

Near the water and a famous aquarium

Interesting building in Osaka

Skygarden, fantastic views.

Travel bloggers desk

When travelling, you can never have too many power points....

Not so sure

Front desk massage doesn't inspire me...

Burjak boys and load of Sashimi in Osaka

What do you do at 9pm at night after eating all day, decide to go for a walk and try something else. 14 plates of sushi and sashimi. Cost $16, we went walking and looking for other stuff. How yummy was that place.

Is it modern or retro?

The train that comes into Namba, central Osaka from airport. Not a bullet train.