On my last day in Kyoto, with only a few hours before I had to catch the shinkansen back to Tokyo, I was hoping to see both Nijo Castle, the Tokugawa shogun's Kyoto home as well as walk around Gion. Alas, I ran out of time and only managed the former, with just enough time to stop at Unkai for lunch.
The next day, I decided to check out Ginkaku-ji (the Temple of the Silver Pavilion). It was built in 1492 as a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, and meant to be coated with silver (like Kinkakuji). Unfortunately, he died before this could happen, so it's just a simple two-story wood structure. What I liked best about this place was it's moss collection. At least, that's what I think it was, since I can't read Japanese.
From there, I walked down Philosopher's Pathway to Nanzen-ji, a Rinzai zen temple set amid a grove of spruce. I have to admit though that the primary reason I took the walk was because of Nanzenji's proximity to Okutan, supposedly one of Kyoto's oldest and most authentic tofu restaurants. Lunch there was pretty amazing, although I'd pretty much reached my tofu limit by the time I was done (which I wouldn't have thought possible before).
After lunch, I headed to Heian Shrine, a huge orange and green structure commemorating the 1,100th anniversary of the founding of Kyoto. I wasn't terribly impressed and decided to skip its gardens (supposedly the highlight of the shrine) and headed to Sanjusangendo Hall. Now this place is just stunning. The hall itself is almost 400 feet long, the longest wooden building in Japan, and houses 1,000 life-sized statues of the thousand-handed Kannon, 500 on each side of the central 11 feet high statue of Kannon. The hall is so long they used to have archery competitions in the corridor behind the statues. Definitely a must see.
Unfortunately, it had started to rain while I was in Sanjusangendo Hall, so I got nice and wet as I waited for the bus to Kiyomizu Temple. Fortunately for me, the street from the bus stop up to the temple was lined with stores, most of them with umbrellas for sale, and I'm now the owner of a green transparent umbrella.
Kiyomizu Temple was one of three highlights in Kyoto for me, despite the rain. It's built on Mount Otowa and has some great views. There's also a spring here on which it's name is based: kiyomizu translates as "pure water", which it certainly is. There's a line to drink the water as gushes from three fountains, and I can only imagine how refreshing it must be when it's hot.
It was dusk by the time I left Kiyomizu and caught the bus to Gion. The rain pretty much dissuaded me from doing any exploring though, so I went to the Yasaka Shrine instead. It's open 24 hours, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it lit with lanterns at night.
From there, I made my way to Minako for dinner. Their specialty: kobe beef, teppanyaki style. I've never had kobe beef before, and since I've been to Japan about five times now, I figured it was time I gave it a shot. I had a piece of sirloin, and it was good. I actually find it a little hard to describe. You know it's definitely beef, but it just doesn't taste like any beef I've ever had before. The difference is in the texture, and the only word that comes to mind is that it's "springier", somehow lighter than regular beef.
After checking into my hotel to drop my gear off around 2pm on Sunday, my first stop was Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion), a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu constructed in the 1390's. It's claim to fame is a three-story pavilion covered in gold leaf. This is not a small building, and is dazzling when the sun is out.
Ryoanji Temple was next, and is one of my three favorite sites in Kyoto. The main structure houses a famous Zen rock garden, but what I liked most about the place was the architecture and the temple grounds (with its large 1,000 year old pond). Very peaceful.
By the time I left Ryoanji it was already past 5pm, and all the other sites were closed so I just caught a bus downtown to Shijo-Kawaramachi and walked about Pantocho until I found a place to have dinner. Since not much else appeared to be open, I just called it a night.
Whoo! Took the Hikari super express shinkansen to Kyoto and back. It's fast (135-188mph) and extremely smooth, so there's very little feedback to clue you in on how fast you're going. It's misleading even when you're looking out at the countryside because of the distance to any point of reference. It only becomes obvious when there's a fence or something else running along side the tracks, which whips by faster than the eye can follow.
I had about 48 hours in Kyoto, barely enough time to see the major attractions. After being spoiled by the Tokyo subway system, it's a shock to try getting around without it. Kyoto's subway isn't as developed, and you mainly have to rely on buses to get everywhere. The problem, of course, is the fact that they are totally unpredictable because of the traffic. Not a problem when you have the time, but very challenging when you're on a tight schedule. It felt like I spent 40% of my time either waiting for or riding on a bus. My one recommendation to anyone else visiting Kyoto is to get a bus route map, which is an absolute must have.
The good news is that Kyoto's relatively small compared to Tokyo. Better yet, it's laid out on a grid so things are easy to find.
Sadly, one thing you won't find in Kyoto is an onsen. At least, not in Kyoto proper. You'd have to go out to the suburbs to find one.
I'm in Tokyo again for the PML conference and repeating my standard jet-lag recovery procedure: hitting an onsen.
The conference doesn't start till next Wednesday, but I figured I'd come early and do some sightseeing. This time, I'll be going to Kyoto. I'm pretty excited about getting to ride the shinkansen tomorrow.
It's way past time for me to replace my motorcycle helmet, and while I've been keeping an eye out, I haven't found anything that works for me. Shoei no longer makes the model I have, and their replacement models don't even come close to fitting me as well as my current one.
While looking for a replacement, I've been doing some research on helmet standards as well. Apparently there's a big controversy over what constitutes a "good" helmet. This article at Motorcyclist Online covers the issue fairly well, and offers an independent analysis of the situation. My take-away message from it is that you should avoid Snell certified helmets if possible because it doesn't provide enough cushioning. Unfortunately, this is a bit of a problem because most helmet makers view Snell certification as a nice marketing check point, and there are fewer and fewer new helmets that are not both DOT and Snell certified.
Another interesting thing I've learned is that helmet makers pretty much certify their helmets themselves. The NHTSA only does spot checks to make sure that their certification claims are true. And the scary bit? There are quite a few that don't pass these checks. Results for these checks can be found here. I was surprised to find that they found an Arai that failed in 2006.
So what's a guy looking to buy a new helmet to do?
Best Doctor Who episode ever: Blink.
It was absolutely perfect from start to finish, with fantastic writing and great pacing. It also has the dubious honor of being the episode with the least amount of screen time for the Doctor (at least, of all the episodes that I've seen). If you've never watched Doctor Who before, this is the one to start with.
I never used to be a fan of Barefoot's Element 114 blend, but they've recently tweaked the formula, and now it rocks! Definitely check it out if you ever get a chance.
I've been playing a bunch of new games lately, and thought I'd do a quick write-up of them.
On the PC, the new Civilization IV expansion, Beyond the Sword, is definitely a worthy addition to the original classic. The addition of corporations and espionage really adds a new dimension to the game.
On the DS, I've been wasting more than a few minutes with Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, which is basically Bejeweled in a yummy RPG wrapping.
On the Wii, I've been infected with Alien Syndrome. It may not be the most original or amazing game, but it's still entertaining nonetheless. Part Diablo, part Gauntlets, it's 100% fun and has a great control system.
Finally, on the table top, we've just discovered Caylus. For now, it has replaced Goa as my game of choice because of the bewildering array of possible strategies for it. Every game so far has been vastly different from the previous ones.
It boggles the mind, but China's just released regulations banning Tibetan monks from reincarnating without permission...
Seriously? Is this actually going to have any effect other than to galvanize opinion against China?
Oh so true. I've never forgiven Orson Scott Card for Xenocide, although I can't say I think Speaker for the Dead was all that great either.
As Charity mentioned, we now own a Steinway piano. All I wanted to do was see how big they were so I could figure out how much space they'd take up in the living room once we remodeled.
Well, mission accomplished.
Did something new over the weekend: helped GRID Alternatives install solar panels in Oakland. Habitat for Humanity is rehabilitating a couple houses up there, and GRID was there to install the solar panels.
It was pretty interesting working up on the roof of a two-story house. It isn't very complicated work, but there's a lot of it. It was a two day project, but since I could only help out on Saturday, I didn't get a chance to see the finished product. I'm definitely going to try to volunteer again. Next time though, I'm going to work with the ground crew and see how the power inverter is installed.
When we were in Mexico, Charity's mom pulled out a can of aerosol sunscreen. I didn't really like the idea of it, but used it anyway since I'd forgotten to bring any myself. Today I came across an article on sunscreens, and of course, the general message is that most of them don't do what they claim to do, and are potentially toxic to boot. As for aerosol sunscreens? Don't.
The story basically discusses a study done by the Environmental Working Group. Out of the 746 products they took a look at, only 19 were rated as both effective and safe. Scary!
We're home again, and it feels good!
We spent our last two days in Mexico City visiting museums. On Tuesday, we went to the Museo Nacional De Historia Castillo de Chapultepec and the Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Both are worth a visit, although I felt that the second floor of the anthropology museum was pretty redundant. The entire floor is dedicated to all the different ethnic groups in Mexico, which sounds great until you realize that they're repeating very similar information over and over again for each group. It's more an issue of organization and layout; it would have been much better if they had made it easier to compare the different ethnic groups with one another.
Before catching our flight back today, we returned to the Palacio de Bellas Artes for their Frida Kahlo exhibit and then went to the Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño, primarily for its Diego Rivera exhibit. I must say I really like Diego Rivera's work. Kahlo's, not so much...
One last note: if you're ever in Mexico City, try to make it to La Fonda del Recuerdo. We had dinner there on Tuesday and it was muy delicioso.
Went on another tour today. This time, it was to the Basilica de Guadalupe and Teotihuacán. Overall, I think the Basilica was much more interesting than the "pyramids" at Teotihuacán, especially the gardens behind the churches. The pyramids should really be called ziggurats instead, and while large, they're pretty drab. I may be a little jaded though after having been to Ephesus, Pompeii and the Parthenon.
For me, the highlight of the day was dinner at chef Patricia Quintana's Izote, which serves modern versions of old indigenous dishes. I ordered the crunchy maguey worms, the sautéed escamoles (ant eggs), and lamb shank wrapped in banana and maguey leaves. Once you get past the fact that you're eating what looks like large fried maggots, the crunchy maguey worms were actually rather tasty. Sort of like french fries... The escamoles was interesting, with the texture of corn kernels, but was a little lacking in flavor. As for the lamb shank, I've read quite a few reviews singing its praises, but mine was too dry for my taste. Flavorful, but dry.
We went to Xochimilco this morning and took a boat ride on the canals. I was surprised at how many families there were picnicking on the boats. And talk about a riot of color...
In the evening, we went to a performance of the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico at the Palacio del Bella Artes. While the show itself was great, what amazed me the most is that they allowed photography! Which is how I ended up with these shots:
In between, we finally managed to file a report of yesterday's pickpocketing. We'd attempted to go to a ministerio publico (police station) the night before based on directions from the US embassy only to discover that it had closed down a while ago. Asking around for the nearest ministerio publico didn't yield any results until we asked a couple police officers, and by the time we finally got to one, all the interpreters had left for the day and we couldn't do anything. Which is why we had to wait till today to get it done. The scariest thing about this whole ordeal is that we were told more than once that we were lucky -- that it was just a pickpocket and not a robbery by a gang of thugs!
First day in Mexico City, first subway ride, and we've already had our first misadventure: Charity's dad was pick pocketed on our way to the Zócalo.
On the bright side of things, the weather's been great so far -- nice and cool and breezy.
