So as I'm sure you know, Kevin and I got married March 11th, 2011 at Finlayson Church in Tampere. A week later, we were off for our honeymoon!
We arrived in Osaka at the Kansai International airport at 10.00 Saturday March 19th. Once we let them scan our fingerprints and take our picture at immigration, we headed to baggage claim. The benefit of a direct flight is that your luggage can't really get lost. Lol!
In the airport, I (Anneli) got to take my first confusing pee. The toilets here are really amazing. But confusing. In a nutshell, they have a lot of different buttons.
Our first challenge after peeing was getting on the right train to Osaka's train station. From there we were going to switch trains to get to Kyoto, our destination. It was a lot harder than we thought, everything was in Japanese and you buy the tickets from vending machines. Once we figured it out we found the train platforms but were confused about which train to get on. We ended up missing the first one because we were too unsure but luckily another one arrived shortly after so we didn't waste too much time. The train took about 70 min to get to Osaka from the airport and we saw a lot of life along the railway. I guess like in most places back home(s), the area surrounding the railway tends to be a bit more on the ghetto side. We saw some beautiful scenery and even our first cherry trees, in blossom! The train stopped at every station on the way to Osaka and we saw some colorful people get on and off. There was a lady in a blue kimono!
Once the train arrived we had our next challenge of figuring out where lucky platform 8 was and then figuring out which one of the trains went to Kyoto. We ended up missing yet again the first train due to indecisiveness, but after asking a teen which train to take we were able to get on the right one. This trip lasted about 30 min and we did some more people watching and staring out of the windows. It was so hard to believe we were finally in JAPAN!
Once we arrived at Kyoto Station we encountered what was the hardest challenge yet: finding our hotel. On the map, the hotel seemed relatively close to the station so we had planned on walking. Kevin being the gadget man he is had some kind of map app on his iphone that we used to point us in the right direction. So off we went with our luggage rolling behind us. And we walked. And walked. And walked. It was the longest most frustrating trip and we ended up walking past the hotel by a few blocks and had to back track. BUT we found it! The downstairs is really nice...but once we got checked in and up to our room...it was bit of a disappointment. A bit old, a bit shabby. But oh well, we're young, we can rough it, right?! And at least we knew we wouldn't be spending a whole lot of time in the room - we have KYOTO to see with all its ancient wonders!!
Arriving at the hotel did wonders for our moods, we got to freshen up and breathe finally. Take some time to relax for a minute and devise a plan for what's next. So needless to say, with our improved moods, excitement set in and we were off again! This time to find Musashi Sushi, a little conveyor belt sushi place that our guide book recommended.
We stopped at a vending machine on our way to the hotel for a cold drink, chose one and it came out piping hot. (afterwards we noticed the little word "hot" underneath). The drink was really terrible, tasted a bit salty. So we popped some more yen in and got an ice cold coke, perfect for such a warm day! The vending machine love continued to the evening, we ended up picking up two more drinks at random. They are so fascinating. Lol!
So back to the story, we headed out to the big street that is a block away from our hotel and started walking what I think is west? (hahha) and I was drawn to a little side street. So down we went and followed the crowds. We ended up upon yet another interesting side street with more locals roaming. We finally remembered it was a Saturday night, which explained all of the people dressed up and heading out to dinners. We saw lots of girls in kimonos, some older women as well. Monday is the vernal equinox so perhaps it has something to do with that?
We found Musashi sushi and had the best sushi ever, served from a conveyor belt. They charge by the plate and count them together when you are done. Kevin had 7 plates (he had eel, tempura, pounded bonita, crab rolls and some other random stuff that looked good), I had 5 (yellowtail, crab rolls, tuna and more). The real treat though was watching the chefs make it in front of you, their speed was, dare I say it, amazing! Once we were full, we headed back out to the big street and walked down an interesting side street which ran into Teramachi which is an indoor mall type place. We strolled and admired and meandered back to our hotel, making a pit stop at 7-11. Here though, it's called 7 & iHoldings. Interesting, eh. We picked up dango (because it's always in anime and we've always wondered what it is...) and some cookies as well as good old OJ and beer. Good pit stop.
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| Vending machine and convenience store spoils. Yeah, our hotel has an ice cream vending machine! |
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| Dango |
Back at the hotel, we showered, watched Japanese TV (everything is dubbed!) and I felt progressively more sick. We had a hard time sleeping with the time difference. Ended up dozing off and then waking up a few hours later and watching un-dubbed Top Gear. Needless to say, cars bored me to death and I fell asleep again...
to wake up at 12:30 p.m.!!! Noooo, that is half of our day already!
So today (Sunday) we got up in rush to get out of the door. The sleep did us some good though, I felt a helluva a lot better and we both really needed the rest, Kevin had barely slept on the plane the night before.
So off we went to find Nishiki Market, where we had planned on having brunch. Once we got there though, the crowd was so overwhelming and in general it was almost uncomfortable how much our senses were absorbing at once: the sounds, the sights, the smells! So we walked and admired, or drooled. Once we got to one end, we turned around and walked back, this time with the intention to stop and buy food from one of the stalls. We had spotted some little tiny, I'm assuming, grilled red octopi on sticks and I dared Kevin to eat one, but he chickened out. We ended up getting some kind of weird food on a stick. Kevin chose octopus-pernilla, I chose a tame shrimp and onion. The texture was weird, like a molded gelatiny loaf on a stick. I still don't know what it was, but it seemed popular with the locals. When in doubt, do as they do right. It was ok, I don't know if I'd eat it again though, hahaha.
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| Nishiki market ends into Teramachi shopping streets and this temple (?) |
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| Plastic food in windows |
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| Octopus and pernilla |
The market had lots of fish and vegetables, flowers and fruits. It was really nice, I'd compare it to a big semi-outdoor kauppahalli (you Finns will get the reference). The fish stands had some dried goods, I really want to bring Kissa back a bag! (I underestimated how much I would miss our critters!)
Once we were done, we decided to head back to the hotel and pick up our umbrellas since it looked like rain was imminent. Good decision because it started to rain just as we got to the street our hotel is on. We came up with the game plan of walking back down to Kyoto Station and eating lunch there, stopping by bic camera and if there was enough light out, we'd stop by a garden and then head back towards where we were last night for dinner or other fun. We also wanted to see Pontocho which is a street of bars and restaurants etc.
Let me just say, the walk back to Kyoto station was much nicer and faster without the luggage. We stopped to take pictures. In the true Nylander fashion, I chose to take flower pictures. We took some touristy shots too.
Once we found our way back to Kyoto station, we had to find The Cube which is a mall connected to the station. From there we had to find the elevator to the 11th floor where the restaurants are. We ended up finding the escalator first. Which went up and up and up, eventually to the 11th floor. I don't do well with heights and it was a bit nerve-wracking to stand on slightly wet, slightly slippery escalators all the way up.
My knees kept locking and I realized I couldn't look back at Kevin, or up either. Sissy, I know. We went all the way to the top and up the little staircase still to the roof, where there were views of Kyoto and a little bamboo garden called "Happy terrace".
We ended up finding a place to eat on the 10th floor, a noodle and okonomiyaki place. I ordered pork noodles which came with an okonomiyaki. Kevin got octopus balls (minds out of the gutter please) with okonomiyaki. I loved the noodles and was proud of my chopstick skills, I was nervous to eat in public, esp. noodle dishes. I survived though! Kevin loved it all. The okonomiyaki is kind of like a pancake meets fritatta pizza type dish. I wasn't a big fan. I also tried a bit of Kevin's octopus (it comes complete with suction cups and all) even though I was skeptical. It was positive surprise, it tasted like and had the texture of scallops. Not too bad, in fact, one might say it was good...
So from the station, we found our way to the nearby Bic Camera. It's an electronic store that was just as much of an overwhelming experience as this mornings Nishiki Market. The lights first of all are the brightest EVER. I'd compare it to being at the dentist's office and having the light shine in your eyes except you don't get to have the sunglasses they give you. Ridiculously bright! Then there are people EVERYWHERE. And there are 7 floors of this. So up we went to floor 2. The TV floor. A whole floor of TVs, each one of them on the highest volume level. How the people who work there don't have raging migraines when they go home is beyond me. Then again, how am I to know they don't? Anywho, on we went through all 7 floors. We bought a curling iron/straightener for me, since we have all these pictures we have to take as good little tourists. ;) We so have to go back though, the place was really cool once you got past the constant noise and bright lights.
It was dark by the time we got on with our plan so we skipped the garden and headed towards the busy night life we saw last night. Soon enough we found it and were swept up again. The neat side streets people kept disappearing down caught my eye, as well as all the trendy people, so we decided to follow and they brought us right to Pontocho!
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| Rather poor quality snapshot of Pontocho's canal |
We walked up and down the street. Kevin had an interesting bathroom experience, the bathroom being a hole in the ground. (Good thing he only had to go #1, sorry too much info I know). The rain began again and we stopped by a little grocery store. We bought some goods, were amazed at the selection and really really want a personal tour guide and translator, if for nothing else, just for the food. We picked up some deep fried cakes and an ice cream and headed back to the hotel.
We dropped the stuff off and went to a restaurant across the street. You choose what you want and push the vending machine button and pay. Then they seat you and serve your dish. I got pork again, this time with vegetables and rice. The meal also came with miso soup and a small piece of tofu. Kevin got some kind of chicken and rice dish with an egg over it. They were both good and with full stomachs, we left and headed yet again, back to the hotel.
So here we are. Kevin's snoozing and I'm going to join him!
Thanks for reading and good night!
-Anneli (and Kevin)
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