Travis in Japan (Part 2)!

In this post, I will write more about our adventures together in Japan. It’s always fun showing someone who has never been to Japan different famous places. It reminds me of my first time in Japan and how wonderful it was.

The first full weekend Travis was here, we stayed the night in a ryokan (traditional Japanese style hotel) in Kyoto. We didn’t stay in an expensive, nice one by any means, but I figured that it would be fun for him to sleep on a futon and wear a yukata. Plus, it gave us more time to explore the city for two days.

The first day, we did the Southern Higashiyama walk. Basically, you start in the Southeast corner of the city at Kiyomizu-dera (a famous temple), and work your way up until you tire out. We did pretty well! We made it all the way to Heian Shrine. This walk is my favorite in Kyoto because the streets are lined with traditional Japanese arts and souvenirs, you can see many beautiful temples right in a row, and it’s very scenic because you are walking along the mountain edge. We really enjoyed ourselves. Travis really seemed to like Kyoto. He’s an artist, so he just kept talking about all the things he wanted to draw throughout the day haha! We went to Kyoto station and got some pretty good Chinese food for dinner and called it a night.

Kiyomizu-dera.

The next day, we did a lot of hopping around. First we went to Arashiyama to see the river/mountain view and the bamboo forest. We saw maiko there (geisha in training). Oh, I should add that the day before, for the first time, I saw geisha/maiko (I’m not positive which) up close for a brief moment. It took my breath away. I turned a corner, and there were two of them in a rickshaw right in front of me! They looked me in the eyes, and I froze. Once they had turned the corner, I let my excitement and disbelief out. I had tried to see geisha every time I went to Kyoto, but was always unsuccessful. Back to the next day…After Arashiyama (where we also shopped and had lunch), we took this little tram to Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion).  Our feet were killing us because of all the walking from the previous day and the current day. We had to walk a really far way from the tram stop to the temple. So, we took an ice cream break. Travis was really impressed by the temple which made me happy. We got to see a big bird (a crane, perhaps) catch a fish out of the pond and eat it. He got a picture of it in action! After that, we made our way to Fushimi Inari, a shrine known for having hundreds of red tori (gates). It was only my second time seeing it so I was pretty stoked. It was a lot more fun being there with someone compared to when I was alone the first time. Unfortunately, I had to work the next day so we didn't have time to climb the mountain to see all the gates, but it was fun nonetheless. We were planning on getting okonomiyaki at Osaka Station on our way back, but the place I wanted to go to had a really long wait so we decided to try this place called The Mango Tree Café. It was an upscale Thai restaurant. The portions were small, but it was super delicious! All in all, it was a great weekend.

Ginkakuji.

Geisha/Maiko in Arashiyama.

Fushimi Inari Taisha.

I should add that during the weekdays before we made our big trip to Tokyo during my spring vacation, we did a lot of other little things in Osaka. For example, I introduced him to kushi-kastu in Tennoji (which has turned out to be his favorite Japanese food), we shopped around Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi, I took him to a nice yakiniku restaurant in my town for a date (you can grill the meat and veggies on your table), and we also visited the shrine in my town. That was the first time I had seen it. We climbed up the mountain in my town a little bit which was interesting. I also took him to my favorite bar in my town. We've gone there a few times now, and each time, we are given free gifts and drinks from all the customers. I really need to bring some sort of gift for them!

I’m going to skip the Tokyo trip for now and write only about that in my next post since there is a lot to say. So, I will continue on about some of the other things we did after getting back from Tokyo. We still had a little over half of my spring break left when we got back from Tokyo. We went on a double date to an okonomiyaki place with my friend Aimee and her boyfriend who was also visiting from America. We went to L&L (a bar that we often go to) after dinner. We met some interesting people there…but not in a good way. There was this really drunk Japanese guy who was blatantly hitting on my in front of Travis which was really awkward… Anyway, we had fun spending time with Aimee and her boyfriend.

There was a random festival in my town one day. It wasn't that spectacular, but it was good because Travis got to try a lot of different festival foods. Speaking of food, we finally made it to El Pancho (because there was over and hour wait the first time we attempted going).  Also, I have really been enjoying cooking for Travis a lot. I cooked a lot of intricate meals for him since he came. We went to this foreign food store somewhat close to where I live and bought a lot of stuff. I was able to make him things like homemade chicken and avocado enchiladas, falafel, spinach/mushroom/chicken gnocchi, and more! Another random date of ours included going to the Osaka Pokemon Center (which is basically just a store selling a bunch of Pokemon stuff), the Umeda Sky Building (which Travis thought was amazing), and to the HUB (a British pub chain that has a great fish and chips and a good happy hour).

One day of my spring break, we went to Nara. It was beautiful because the cherry blossoms were in full bloom! We ate lunch at the maccha café I am growing to love. Travis liked his lunch, but not the dessert he got which was a parfait that had mochi (rice cake), azuki (sweet beans), and jellies in it. We got to play with the deer. Travis feed them deer biscuits which was entertaining. We took our time walking around Nara Park and Kofuku-ji. We got laughed at by a bunch of Japanese girls when they saw us bow to the deer even though you are supposed to. We sat by a pond full of fish and turtles and got laughed at again when Travis helped me up from the ground. I’m not sure why the lady laughed at me. :S She seemed nice enough, though so I didn't take it personally. We made our way to Yoshikien garden. After that, we went to Todai-ji and saw the giant Buddha statue. We then continued to Kasuga Taisha (a shrine known for having around 3000 lanterns. On our way there, we came across a beautiful park chock full of cherry blossom trees. We stopped there for a bit. After leaving Kasuga Taisha, we headed home. It was a great day!

Cherry Blossoms in Nara Park.

Kofuku-ji.

We also went back to Kyoto for a day during my break. This time we went to the North Higashiyama mountain area. This day was special for a few reasons. First, this was only my second time doing this trip so I was able to discover new things. Second, it was 70 degrees (Fahrenheit) outside which was the warmest day we had had yet! It felt pretty hot. Third, the cherry blossoms were still in full bloom, and for those who don’t know, North Higashiyama is known for the “Path of Philosophy.” The Path of Philosophy is a stoned path that runs a long a canal and the mountains. It is lined with cherry trees. Since it was cheery blossom season, we were very lucky to be there. It was absolutely gorgeous! The only problem was that it was very crowded for this reason. We went to Nanzenji (a temple known for its cool aqueducts) at first. After that, we went to Eikando Temple. From there, we started on the path of philosophy. Despite how crowded it was, we were surprised to run in to Aimee and her boyfriend not once, but twice! As we approached Ginkakuji (The Silver Pavillion-which isn't actually silver unlike the Golden Pavillion which is actually gold), I saw some touristy streets that I had never seen before. I enjoyed that because touristy streets are usually filled with fun food stands. I got something called a potato tornado which was yummy. We went to Ginkakuji and made the long journey home after that. All I will say is **** Kyoto buses. They are terrible.

The Path of Philosophy.

Potato Tornado. Wahhh!!

On the last day of spring break, I met a lot of friends for hanami (flower viewing-a Japanese tradition during cherry blossom season where people get together and eat, drink, and socialize/play games under the cherry trees) at Osaka Castle Park. It was my first hanami experience so I was very excited. Unfortunately, the day before, there was a big rain storm and almost all the flowers had come off the trees, but we made the best of it. Despite it being a little damp and cold, a lot of people showed up, and we had a lot of fun! Perhaps the bottle of wine I drank to myself had something to do with it :P We met around noon, and headed home around 5 pm because we all had our first day of work the next day after the spring vacation. I was sobered up by seven and went to bed early. I can’t say the same for Travis, though. He was so drunk when we left that he ran into a wall, told me he did it on purpose, and then didn’t remember doing it the next day bahahaha! It was a successful first hanami in my opinion.

Hanami.

Since work has started back up, we have enjoyed doing little dates and fun things. We got Indian food one night and saw Paranorman in theaters. I really enjoyed the movie. Actually, we tried to go to one of my favorite Mexican places for dinner because Travis has been planning to treat me to a meal there, but when we got there, they said they were reserved for the entire night! Wtf? We got there right when it opened, too… So that’s why we got Indian. It was good, though. They gave us the biggest naan I've ever seen in my life! A different night, last week actually, we went for kushi-katsu a second time and went to the Japan Mint Building. It’s the building where they mint all the coins in Japan. The regular cherry blossoms are gone, but at the Japan Mint, they have this event where they do a very popular cherry blossom illumination event for a week. The cherry blossoms are a different breed. They are fluffier and pinker. The event attracts around 82,000 people in a week! Needless to say, it was crowded. It was really cool though! It was along the river somewhat close to Kyobashi Station. We stood by the river and looked at the lit up suspension bridge, the water, and the riverboats. The streets were lined with the most festival food I’ve seen so far in Japan. They actually even had makeshift restaurants put up for the event! It was insane! It was too bad we had just come from dinner (even though it was delicious) because there was so much interesting food to try there, but we were full. The blossoms were really nice, and it was free!

Cherry blossom illuminations at the Japan Mint Building.

One night, we went out to dinner with three of the English teachers I work with. I really wanted Travis to meet some more Japanese people and get a sense of some of the people I work with. We went to an izakaya called Shirokiya (Japanese style bar called "White Tree"). I love going out to eat with my coworkers because they always know what to order, and I get to try new things. Travis ate cow intestines and loved it haha…gross! I ate escargot, I think. It tasted like a mushroom…or really it was just a mushroom. I’m not sure.

Besides also having a lot of nights in together where I cook, we watch movies, and cuddle, that’s what we have been up to. I will write all about our trip to Tokyo in my next post.