I don`t even know what day it is and Im fine with that. Been in Kyoto for three days. On the first night, having arrived from Tokyo on the shinkasen bullet train, I was a bit weary of sightseeing and sake and sushi, my wobbly legs were craving something familiar. I heard about a proper Irish pub thats popular round here and decided to head over for some fried fish and chips and a cocktail. Upon entering we found ourselves in the midst of a Japanese wedding reception! It was just ending and the bar was opening up to customers so we were welcomed in. The Irish bartenders and managers were fantastic...as the Irish round the world are. Ended up staying for hours and hours and shooting the shit with my Irish brethern and getting the low down on Kyoto and geisha. All while R and B music played much to my delight. So lets review for a minute, shall we? Irish pub hosting a Japanese wedding and Soul music is playiing all night. Fantastic. Although the next days itineray was shortened and delayed a bit due to the enormous hangover. After the pub closed we ended up at a Karaoke BAR...not box! and sang for another 2 hours. We even saw a geisha woman with her evenings appointment at the bar.
The next day I shook myself off and decided to head a little ways out of town for a hot spring and then a river trip. The onsen was wonderful. Hot water soaking cured the hangover. Then a half an hour away was a 2 hour river trip down the Hozugawa river in Arashiyama. Beautiful mountain river twisting and turning through bamboo forests and other trees I couldnt possibly identify (having slept through most of high school Biology). But anyways...Imagine me and a boatload of 20 Japanese dudes in their 60`s and 70`s... white water cruising. Hilarious. The most talkative of the bunch...although he knew about 10 english words... tried to tell me three ways to Sunday that he wanted to kiss me. So I checked my Japanese phrase book and quickly learned how to say...`Sorry I have a headache`
The entire boat shook with knee slaps and laughs. Then I managed to name drop Hideki Matsui (NY Yankee baseball player for you unfortunate types who dont watch the gentlemans sport) and I was immediatley one of the boys. A floating boat restaurant sidled up to us near the end of our journey where a guy sells little snacks he cooks right on the boat!. Fish and eel and squid (and who knows) and chips and beer. The Japanese grandpas had me trying a multitude of weird shit. No idea what I was eating but it went down okay and tasted alright too.
Then between late yesterday afternoon and today I went to about 10 temples and shrines. I think I hit about .05% of the amount that there are to visit in Kyoto. There are literally hundreds around here. Thousands even. I tried to hit the most famous ones and get the gist. Get all Zen in the rock garden. Check. Take a photo of the bridge and the pond and the big ol Bonzai tree. Check. Walk down the Torii path and listen to my Ipod while breathing in fresh air and contemplating my future. Check. But further enlightment will have to wait...I`m going Geisha hunting!
There about 100 Geisha and 80 Maiko left in Kyoto. The maiko are the apprentice geisha and wear the white face paint and colorful hair ornaments. The regualr geisha just wear Kimono. Spotting the Maiko is best done between 430 and 630 pm as sometimes you can catch them on their way to appointments at tea houses where patrons will pay up to 3000$ for their company and shimasen/japanese guitar performance.
Today I was fully prepared for Geisha hunting. I returned to the hostel around 3 to freshen up and jump back into my kimono, figuring any photo op would have to capture the SPIRIT of Kyoto and honor the tradition of geisha. Also...I look kickass in it. I headed to Gion where most of the the Geisha live and work. My Irish friends mapped out their most frequent routes and I planned on following this route repeatedly and retracing my steps for optimum run-ins.
Ive talked to other hostel kids...and they`ve all seen seen one or two. Some Maiko may stop and pose if they have time. Others walk very fast or run in their wooden flip flops towards their appointment and away from the silly tourists.
I saw... seven.
And got photos with 4 of them.
Well...one on her own and 3 at the same time. One of the women with the maiko...a den mother of sorts, I guess... looked me up and down, smiled and leaned over towards me to straighten the lines of my Kimono under my obi belt. Arrigoto mamasan!
I like the idea of geisha. Theyve always fascinated me. Their very nature is to entertain. I always thought of myself as a gaijin geisha. Bartender? DJ? What do I do but entertain the masses? Get em drinks. Get em dancing. Get em laughing.
And Now...
A few random observations:
If the toilets arent western style then they are flat urinals on the ground that you squat over. Thankfully my Converse are still dry. If they are western toilets...they are the mack daddy of toilets. Coming complete with a hand sink at the top, seat warmer, built-in bidet and my favorite...a soundtrack of trickling water noises to inspire you!!!
There are very very few trash cans anywhere. The Japanese do not like to waste things so I guess to circumvent this...they just dont have trash cans. People also carry there own wash cloths with them to use after washing their hands? So eco friendly but really weird/frustrating to have to carry trash around with you for 10 blocks.
The service industry rules here. Theres no tipping and yet there are like three people waiting on you at all times, so anxious to make sure you have everything you need. NY, take a lesson.
They have something akin to my favorite daily beverage Vitamin water...which please me greatly.
The food at the 7 -11 is actually edible and quite popular?
I totally dig the vending machines. Not only are they on EVERY corner stocked with drinks, coffee, tea, beer, cigs...But I ve seen ones with cameras, ties, batteries, comics and pantyhose. Awesome.
NO one EVER jaywalks. ... I do.
One last thing. The Japanese NEVER steal. Theft is pretty much non exisitent here. You have to take off your shoes before entering a house and you leave them in the foyer. All day long there are like 50 pairs of shoes in the open entrance and nobody nicks em?! A hostel friend dropped her camera while she was dancing at a dance club. It was at lost and found 10 minutes later! Also...Bicycles are a very popluar mode of transportation and you will see hundreds and hundreds of them parked outside of buildings and subway stops.
THEY DONT HAVE LOCKS!
I mean some do...but...ummm... I cant even wrap my head around this. They just park em and go. These people have like...the most amazing lack of selfishness Ive ever encountered in my life.
I want Billy (my schwiin bicycle) that got stolen from me to die and be reincarnated and be born here in Japan. Billy-san!
All is well.Weather has been friggin perfect!! 70-75 degrees every day.
Next blogs will be from....
CHINA y`all!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Kimono? KimoYES!
Ay!Parrata!
Hostel living has me in a dorm room with 6 other women. All fun and sound chicas from round the globe. I woke up yesterday morning round about 7am because the bunk bed was shaking. I sleepily opened my eyes and wondering sluggishly if the Swede above me was taking care of business. Serious solo and ardent self love kind of business. My brows furrowed and I smirked for a few seconds and then it stopped. I turned over and went back to sleep.
I heard later it was an earthquake. Trivia fact time! There are over 1000 earthquakes in Japan every YEAR. So ...Next time.... I wont automatically assume that someone is getting the Led out.
Yesterday I went to Nikko with a roomate named Nicky. Its two hours north of Tokyo and is nestled near some mountains. Its a very popular day trip because there are some serious shrines up there. So we spent the day wandering through beautiful gardens and temples and shrines. Lovely. Peaceful. Ended up on a wrong bus at one point trying to get to a Japanese Onsen/hot springs to soak for a few hours. Happy accident brought us to the top of a mountain. Autumn colors. Japanese macques /monkeys . And a friggin beautiful lake and waterfalls higher than Niagara Falls. Awesome.
This morning I decided to buy that kimono I wanted at the used Kimono shop. Like I mentioned before, Kimonos are usually very expensive. Some costing upwards to a million bucks. You can buy cheap cotton or polyester ones but I wanted authentic and didnt mind spending a little for it. The lovely Japanese salesgirl even gave me a 20% discount. So I got my Kimono and obi .../the sash that ties around your waist. I am thrilled. Its a knockout and soooo friggin worth it.
Upon returning back at the hostel, the gang and I were making plans for the afternoon. Harajuku is THE place to go on a Sunday afternoon because all the Harajuku girls come out from the Suburbs to dress like crazy Bo Peeps and Freaks and in the lastest high fashion. We wanted to go take photos. A tourist hot spot.
But what to wear to the epicenter of cutting edge and weird? Hmmmm. Jeans and a Tshirt? Sun dress?
Sucka please.
Half an hour later saw me shuffling along the street in full Kimono garb. My posse was cracking up. High fiving my moxy. It was the best decision Ive made since Ive landed. The last 5 days have been a blur of sightseeing. Ive flew mostly under the radar from your typical Japanese citizen who are more focused on getting from point A to point B in an orderly fashion and have no time to inspect the lanky redhead.
Today was entirely different. Almost everyone I passed by checked me out fully. The older women, some in Kimono as well, often stopped me and smiled and laughed or complimented me. I would bow with a coy smile as I had seen done in that Memoirs of a Geisha movie. As I arrived at Harajuku, I whipped out my camera to start taking photos but I was soon surrounded by cameras and I was asked to pose for like...a half an hour.
The Harajuku girls are fashion forward. Ive always said I was fashion backward. Finally it works for me. Old school baby. It was such great fun and I felt so beautiful.
After Harajuku and the Meijo Shrine near Harajuku park...where we saw three different and beautiful traditional Japenese wedding processions!!!!..., we walked through the crowded streets of Shibuya and Shinjuku and ended up at Piss alley and the Red light district. Neon, flash, crowds, Pachinko gambling parlors, craziness, dirty old men that drag their hands across yer bum as they walk by in the tiny alleys that snake endlessly and smoke with food, sake and karaoke and thousands of people crossing the intersection at once. Times Square times twelve. But the Kimono swam me through the crowds effortlessly and so many smiles and pointing and stopping and staring. I'll have to upload my photos and update my Myspace photo. Ill have that photo<-----without photoshopping real soon, my dears!
Full day. Exhausted. Back at the hostel and some kids and I are gonna hit the rooftop deck of the hostel and have some drinks.Tommorow I head for Kyoto which is the cultural heart of Japan. Real living Geisha!
Genki deska?
Genki des!
Rora
Hostel living has me in a dorm room with 6 other women. All fun and sound chicas from round the globe. I woke up yesterday morning round about 7am because the bunk bed was shaking. I sleepily opened my eyes and wondering sluggishly if the Swede above me was taking care of business. Serious solo and ardent self love kind of business. My brows furrowed and I smirked for a few seconds and then it stopped. I turned over and went back to sleep.
I heard later it was an earthquake. Trivia fact time! There are over 1000 earthquakes in Japan every YEAR. So ...Next time.... I wont automatically assume that someone is getting the Led out.
Yesterday I went to Nikko with a roomate named Nicky. Its two hours north of Tokyo and is nestled near some mountains. Its a very popular day trip because there are some serious shrines up there. So we spent the day wandering through beautiful gardens and temples and shrines. Lovely. Peaceful. Ended up on a wrong bus at one point trying to get to a Japanese Onsen/hot springs to soak for a few hours. Happy accident brought us to the top of a mountain. Autumn colors. Japanese macques /monkeys . And a friggin beautiful lake and waterfalls higher than Niagara Falls. Awesome.
This morning I decided to buy that kimono I wanted at the used Kimono shop. Like I mentioned before, Kimonos are usually very expensive. Some costing upwards to a million bucks. You can buy cheap cotton or polyester ones but I wanted authentic and didnt mind spending a little for it. The lovely Japanese salesgirl even gave me a 20% discount. So I got my Kimono and obi .../the sash that ties around your waist. I am thrilled. Its a knockout and soooo friggin worth it.
Upon returning back at the hostel, the gang and I were making plans for the afternoon. Harajuku is THE place to go on a Sunday afternoon because all the Harajuku girls come out from the Suburbs to dress like crazy Bo Peeps and Freaks and in the lastest high fashion. We wanted to go take photos. A tourist hot spot.
But what to wear to the epicenter of cutting edge and weird? Hmmmm. Jeans and a Tshirt? Sun dress?
Sucka please.
Half an hour later saw me shuffling along the street in full Kimono garb. My posse was cracking up. High fiving my moxy. It was the best decision Ive made since Ive landed. The last 5 days have been a blur of sightseeing. Ive flew mostly under the radar from your typical Japanese citizen who are more focused on getting from point A to point B in an orderly fashion and have no time to inspect the lanky redhead.
Today was entirely different. Almost everyone I passed by checked me out fully. The older women, some in Kimono as well, often stopped me and smiled and laughed or complimented me. I would bow with a coy smile as I had seen done in that Memoirs of a Geisha movie. As I arrived at Harajuku, I whipped out my camera to start taking photos but I was soon surrounded by cameras and I was asked to pose for like...a half an hour.
The Harajuku girls are fashion forward. Ive always said I was fashion backward. Finally it works for me. Old school baby. It was such great fun and I felt so beautiful.
After Harajuku and the Meijo Shrine near Harajuku park...where we saw three different and beautiful traditional Japenese wedding processions!!!!..., we walked through the crowded streets of Shibuya and Shinjuku and ended up at Piss alley and the Red light district. Neon, flash, crowds, Pachinko gambling parlors, craziness, dirty old men that drag their hands across yer bum as they walk by in the tiny alleys that snake endlessly and smoke with food, sake and karaoke and thousands of people crossing the intersection at once. Times Square times twelve. But the Kimono swam me through the crowds effortlessly and so many smiles and pointing and stopping and staring. I'll have to upload my photos and update my Myspace photo. Ill have that photo<-----without photoshopping real soon, my dears!
Full day. Exhausted. Back at the hostel and some kids and I are gonna hit the rooftop deck of the hostel and have some drinks.Tommorow I head for Kyoto which is the cultural heart of Japan. Real living Geisha!
Genki deska?
Genki des!
Rora
Tokyo Vice
Kon ba wa! Watashi wa Lola des! Hajime Mashite!
Its rolling off my tongue like ramen drips off my lips. I am HUGE in Japan.
First things first...I LOOVE being a minority. I love being different. I love the attention. Although the Japanese are a very polite peoples. They dont stare or bother you, but there have been quite a few times that I stood, map in hand in the subway, and they come up to check on you. So sweet.
I love bowing. I love the manners. I love keeping to the left of the sidewalk or subway platform when walking. I love slurping my noodles. I love the vending machines. I love the school uniforms and men in suits. I love the how everything is so orderly and clean.
So...I arrived Wednesday afternoon and took the train in from the airport. I arrived at my hostel and immediatley starting rapping with kids in the common room. Rikki from Liverpool and Ryan from Austrailia have become my main wingmen. We made plans for the next day to see the Imperial Palace, The Senso Ji Shrine in Asakusa, The Ueno area and walk around. We ended up at this park where they have boats you can rent. We opted for the giant duck paddle boats and cracked up around the lake for awhile drinking cold sake.
Then last night we went to get conveyor belt sushi. There are these sushi restaurants that have these big square counters. You sit there and sushi plates pass in front of you on a conveyor belt. You are charged depending on the color of the plate. (160 yen for cheap plate and about 450yen for expensive stuff) So we we had out tuna and eel and crab plenty of misc. delicious unpronouncable sushi. You stack the plates between you as you finish. Drink your sake. Grab a plate. Eat and repeat. At the end of the meal...they waiter comes over with this handheld bar code type computerized reader!!! ....And he holds it next to the stack of plates and raises it to the top and then back down again. The fucking computer thing fucking can tell what color plate it is???!! It gives you a receipt. Not only super efficient but technologically kickass!
After sake and sushi..Austrailian Ryan and I decide to hit a Karaoke box. It looks like a hotel entrance. You take an elevator up to the top floor and get a private room. Everything seems second nature to me. Check the songlist book. Pick a song. Type in the number into the remote control thingee. Sing my guts out. Order drinks from the phone on the wall and they deliver them in like...seconds. We kept asking everyone if there were karaoke BARS not just boxes. (You KNOW how I like a crowd.) We heard of a few and will follow up our leads within the next few nights.
This morning, Rikki and Ryan and I got up at the crack of dawn to go to the Tsukiji Central Fish market. Why haul our cookies up at 6am to stand in fish guts? Cause its a friggin mind fuck. Imagine one third of all the fish sold in japan in one day moving through this market. Awesome. Simply awesome. We watched the Tuna auctions from the warehouse. Imagine thousands of frozen tuna fish, 7 feet long at least, all lined up and hundreds of japanese dudes bidding on these things like it was the floor of the NY stock exchange. The auctioner has this husky staccato voice that sing songs the auction. The place is HUGE. On the other side of the auction area is like a square mile or two of stalls selling everything from eels to octopus to shrimp, crab and every single type of fish available. Between the stalls are small passage ways and these little trucks...ummm...like super old school Segways with a dude driving while standing on this flat wagon. And they are driving at Mach 10 past you from every direction. It was like friggin Frogger. But organised chaos. Thousands of restaurant owners and chefs in suits or work clothes all wear knne high black Galoshes and carry big baskets to buy the fish for the days menu.
Then past all that are these stalls for knives and gear and food other than fish. And all these little counter restaurants side by side that are like 6 feet wide. Sushi for breakfast? Not for us. We hit Dennys. And No they dont have Moons over my Hammy.
Quick nap at the hostel and then back out to see some Kabuki Theatre. Didnt understand it as its in Japanesy but I culled the storyline. Someone loves someone else and the rich neighbor is nosy and then the little girl sings and then the mother paints on a screen and the other traveling dude laments. Or something like that. But they all wore beautiful kimonos. Which by the way...I will also be wearing. very very soon. Theres this used Kimono shop I went to yesterday. New ones are like thousands of dollars. These are like 50-300 bucks. I already picked mine out and they:re holding it for me for when I return from Kyoto and Nara.
Tonight I go drop off a bottleof unique and superior Bourbon to a very nice bartender that Rachael and Moss met while here. Friday night in Shibuya. Party time.
I love my life. Im so happy I did this. I am accliamating so well and my heart feels... not so heavy these days. More more more!
Its rolling off my tongue like ramen drips off my lips. I am HUGE in Japan.
First things first...I LOOVE being a minority. I love being different. I love the attention. Although the Japanese are a very polite peoples. They dont stare or bother you, but there have been quite a few times that I stood, map in hand in the subway, and they come up to check on you. So sweet.
I love bowing. I love the manners. I love keeping to the left of the sidewalk or subway platform when walking. I love slurping my noodles. I love the vending machines. I love the school uniforms and men in suits. I love the how everything is so orderly and clean.
So...I arrived Wednesday afternoon and took the train in from the airport. I arrived at my hostel and immediatley starting rapping with kids in the common room. Rikki from Liverpool and Ryan from Austrailia have become my main wingmen. We made plans for the next day to see the Imperial Palace, The Senso Ji Shrine in Asakusa, The Ueno area and walk around. We ended up at this park where they have boats you can rent. We opted for the giant duck paddle boats and cracked up around the lake for awhile drinking cold sake.
Then last night we went to get conveyor belt sushi. There are these sushi restaurants that have these big square counters. You sit there and sushi plates pass in front of you on a conveyor belt. You are charged depending on the color of the plate. (160 yen for cheap plate and about 450yen for expensive stuff) So we we had out tuna and eel and crab plenty of misc. delicious unpronouncable sushi. You stack the plates between you as you finish. Drink your sake. Grab a plate. Eat and repeat. At the end of the meal...they waiter comes over with this handheld bar code type computerized reader!!! ....And he holds it next to the stack of plates and raises it to the top and then back down again. The fucking computer thing fucking can tell what color plate it is???!! It gives you a receipt. Not only super efficient but technologically kickass!
After sake and sushi..Austrailian Ryan and I decide to hit a Karaoke box. It looks like a hotel entrance. You take an elevator up to the top floor and get a private room. Everything seems second nature to me. Check the songlist book. Pick a song. Type in the number into the remote control thingee. Sing my guts out. Order drinks from the phone on the wall and they deliver them in like...seconds. We kept asking everyone if there were karaoke BARS not just boxes. (You KNOW how I like a crowd.) We heard of a few and will follow up our leads within the next few nights.
This morning, Rikki and Ryan and I got up at the crack of dawn to go to the Tsukiji Central Fish market. Why haul our cookies up at 6am to stand in fish guts? Cause its a friggin mind fuck. Imagine one third of all the fish sold in japan in one day moving through this market. Awesome. Simply awesome. We watched the Tuna auctions from the warehouse. Imagine thousands of frozen tuna fish, 7 feet long at least, all lined up and hundreds of japanese dudes bidding on these things like it was the floor of the NY stock exchange. The auctioner has this husky staccato voice that sing songs the auction. The place is HUGE. On the other side of the auction area is like a square mile or two of stalls selling everything from eels to octopus to shrimp, crab and every single type of fish available. Between the stalls are small passage ways and these little trucks...ummm...like super old school Segways with a dude driving while standing on this flat wagon. And they are driving at Mach 10 past you from every direction. It was like friggin Frogger. But organised chaos. Thousands of restaurant owners and chefs in suits or work clothes all wear knne high black Galoshes and carry big baskets to buy the fish for the days menu.
Then past all that are these stalls for knives and gear and food other than fish. And all these little counter restaurants side by side that are like 6 feet wide. Sushi for breakfast? Not for us. We hit Dennys. And No they dont have Moons over my Hammy.
Quick nap at the hostel and then back out to see some Kabuki Theatre. Didnt understand it as its in Japanesy but I culled the storyline. Someone loves someone else and the rich neighbor is nosy and then the little girl sings and then the mother paints on a screen and the other traveling dude laments. Or something like that. But they all wore beautiful kimonos. Which by the way...I will also be wearing. very very soon. Theres this used Kimono shop I went to yesterday. New ones are like thousands of dollars. These are like 50-300 bucks. I already picked mine out and they:re holding it for me for when I return from Kyoto and Nara.
Tonight I go drop off a bottleof unique and superior Bourbon to a very nice bartender that Rachael and Moss met while here. Friday night in Shibuya. Party time.
I love my life. Im so happy I did this. I am accliamating so well and my heart feels... not so heavy these days. More more more!
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