Musings of a Food and Travel Addict
Kenzo Tange is a Japanese architect that has designed many buildings including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Complex in Shinjuku.
He also designed the Yoyogi Stadium and Metropolitan Gym in Shibuya next door to NHK’s studios.
What he DIDN’T design was that big pink dot that’s the mascot of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Cup tournament that was being hosted there.
Dun get that dot confused with this pink dot…
The first time I went to Japan, I wanted to visit the Ghibli Museum but didn’t have the time or tickets. You need to buy them in advance from JTB travel agencies in the states before you arrive in Japan.
Ghibli is a museum devoted to the works of Miyazaki Hayao. They don’t allow photos inside but they do allow pictures outside. This is the outside of the building. What’s that on the roof?
It even has its own buses to bring you there from the Mitaka JR Station. かわいい
.
The last train of the night arrives at Shinagawa station and I’m there to start my journey back to Minami-Senju and sleep.
Funny thing though, all the other lines that start from a Yamanote stop will wait for the last Yamanote to arrive before it leaves.
It’s funny only because I live in San Francisco and MUNI never does this, ever.
I’m on the Shinkansen heading back to Tokyo. Yea!
And to the New Koyo. No comment.
The train is about two hours into the journey. Suddenly around the bend looking out the left side of the train,
“Fuji-San! Fuji-San desu“!
Fuji is a notoriously shy mountain; it’s usually hidden behind cloud cover. But not today. Everyone in my car rushed to the windows, whipped open their phones and started taking pictures.
I felt absolutely ancient taking pictures with my camera…
Needed a long sleeve shirt to fight off the cold. Went to Den Den town to go shop at Muji. Great store, BTW.
Wanted to putter and see Gilco Man. Off to Dotenbori.
Got hungry. Ate at Ramen Stand. They had these platforms with tatami and little tables. You sat on the tatami that are on the platform. Slurp.
Got thirsty. Went to Kirin Beer Restaurant. Had a sampler.
Like I need instructions on how to drink beer…
Got tired. Went back to Kyoto on the limited train. Sleepy time.
After waking from my shochu & sento enhanced slumber, the rain stopped and I made it out to the Imperial Palace. I ran into a fellow traveller from the New Koyo in line to enter. We tried to contact each other when we got to Kyoto, but was difficult since we were staying in different places.
Kyoto was the capital until the late 1800s when the seat of government was moved to Tokyo. The palace is still here and it’s now used for enthronement ceremonies.
It was impressive. Especially the gardens. Like my backyard could look like this!
Today (Monday) is Japan’s Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday.
Everything official was closed but everyone was out to enjoy the scenery that Kyoto is famous for.
I went to a famous soba restaurant that has been around for about 300 years in the same location. Yummy but pricey…
After lunch, I took a stroll in the Eastern part of Kyoto in the big park and toured some temples.
And as soon as I left, the skies opened up. Rain and rain and rain.
When I got back to J-Hoppers, there wasn’t a lot to do because it was raining. Myself and two others wound up going to a Sento (public bath), grabbing dinner and ending the evening with shochu and beer at 0300.
That’s not good because I have to get up early on Tuesday to visit the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Getting up early….brrrrrr.
I’ve arrived in Kyoto for the first of two “trips within trip” of this Japan trip via Tokaido Shinkansen, 2 hours, 43 minutes exactly.
Even though Kyoto City is just over 1 million people, I don’t find it as overwhelming as Tokyo. It feels more comfortable and the people seem more relaxed.
I’m staying at a guesthouse called J-Hoppers. It was founded by a motorcyclist who did one of those “Around the World” motorcycle trips. He was so inspired by the hospitality he received that he decided to open up a guesthouse to return the good graces he received on the road in his home town of Kyoto.
This is the nicest guesthouse I have ever been in.
The facilities are clean and new, the staff isn’t surly and there’s free food in the fridge!
Even though I’m in a dormitory (for $25/night!), it’s still nicer than my last place.
And the bathrooms here are more like someone’s home as opposed to a subway’s. They even have the heated bidet butt dryer toilet seat on all of the toilets! Wah!
Today marks 7 days until I gotta go back to SF so I decided to do something absolutely silly.
I went to the Bandai Museum in Matsudo where I saw stuff like this:
This is the Bandai Museum and there are features on every show and franchise Bandai holds.
The Gundam part of the museum is upstairs.
Here you are immersed in the world of Universal Century (UC) Gundam.
Zakus usually fall to this guy
These cosplayers are here for an event. Nice!
And of course, you’ve got the Gift Shop at the end where there are silly things to see and buy
Under the weather
As documented earlier, I’m dealing with the aftermath of food poisoning from KL. I’m convinced it’s the roadfood that did me in because I had oysters last night and didn’t get worse.
I met up with Yumi last night and she took me to her hangout bar where we met up with some of her other friends.
We drank a lot.
1 Bottle: some unidentified French White wine
1 Bottle: Sake from Kyoto, the 2 liter size.
We ate a lot. A lot of sashimi and soup.
And then a nightcap in Roppongi. Another glass of a different Nouveau.
Not a bad way to end the short evening…
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