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30 August 2009
24 August 2009
Important decisions
As per previous entry, on the weekend we took receipt of the Zumbo cake, which was happily enjoyed by many over the past 48 hours. I was sad to see it go at morning team today.
I was also delighted to get my acceptance into my chosen Masters course today, which was a spot of great news.
I suddenly feel the future has many possibilities that all offer something exciting and new.
But with all these options comes great decisions.
I've already been chided by one friend for bemoaning the fact have choice, as opposed to having economic or organisational circumstances that dictate my path.
Why is it then that I am spending much of my waking time debating whether I should cut my hair?
(Sometimes I am still nothing but a teenage girl, as evidenced by not only the above comment, but also by the fact I was totally engrossed in the big question of whether Rory and Logan would get married in The Gilmore Girls last night.)
15 August 2009
The Year of...
2008 was christened "The Year of Health", which for me meant getting my house in order - physically, mentally, emotionally - with a particular view to getting married in 2009. It was a pretty busy and traumatic year, which really only came to a close when Taxman and I returned from our honeymoon.
What came next? For most people it seems the natural progression was babies. I am amazed by how many of the people in my circle have become pregnant within 12 months of their wedding. If I was one that felt the pull of peer group pressure I'd be sweating buckets right now.
Thankfully I am neither influenced by the masses, nor particularly interested in children, so we needed something else to focus on.
Initially this has been getting the apartment to where I wanted it to be - visitor friendly and a reflection of our style. In addition I have spent considerable amount of time pondering the career I was meant to have, as opposed to the career I do have. And while it has been entertaining and challenging in parts, and funded the lavish lifestyle to which I have become accustomed, it is time for me to move on. The first step to which I began this week when I submitted my application to study at the College of Fine Arts in 2010. Here's hoping I make the cut.
But it has hit me this week that if I was to look back on 2009 I would clearly label it as "The Year of Food."
From early December last year, when I received the prized email from elBulli telling me I had a reservation,it seems the die had been cast. 2009 was all about the eating.
Japan was a culinary adventure, which dominated my blog writing* and our travel itinerary. We returned to fall headlong into the cult that was Masterchef , and I like 5 million others became hooked on the show. (I'm pleased to say that Taxman received his blow torch today, so now can prepare creme brulee like he has always dreamed.)
Somehow food, the talk of it, the cooking of it and the consumption of it has taken up an inordinate amount of time this year. In June and July we managed to eat at both the Sydney and Melbourne Rockpool Bar & Grill restaurants, in a matter of two weeks.
Last weekend J and I spent a glorious 48 hours eating at as many Melbourne dining venues as possible. And I have at least 5 good restaurants planned for the coming 6 weeks,when we jet half way around the world to eat in Ferran Adria's world famous eatery.
Tomorrow I plan on baking the best cupcakes Sydney has ever seen, and hence taking out my workplace Masterchef Cupcake competition on Monday.
Then there is my obsession with Adriano Zumbo, patisserie master in Balmain who haunts my culinary dreams. In 7 days I will have secured one of his legendary 7 layer chocolate mousse cakes. A dream come true.
Where did this all come from?
I've always been a fan of food. My mother, a vegetarian for most of her life, says she was appalled to see my father teaching a 2 year old me to suck marrow from bones (which I still love.)
Sharing a house with D in my teenage years taught me a love of cooking, especially Italian food, and my passion was cemented through my friends I met in high school, who all share the joy of good food and wine.
I told a friend today that I am not a professional (or even aspiring) chef, I am, in fact, a professional eater. This is my calling. Hence my other passion of 2009 - Spin class.
Long may it continue.
* My blog has taken a back seat in 2009, in some ways because I was burned by my work experience last year, in others because the immediacy of pithy twitter comments took over. The blog has been a vital part of my life, especially 2002-2004 and I know I will be back, even sporadically.
15 June 2009
The Masterchef Effect
Taxman came home on Friday and told me he was making praline.
It's hard to define how strange that statement was. Taxman is not a cook. Taxman is not really even an eater. He's never been someone who spent much time focusing on food, content to exist on mint slices, white bread, vita brits and spaghetti sauce from a jar. That said, three years living with me has, in his own lovely words from our wedding, taught him that hats were not just something you wear on your head.
He carried it through. He not only says he's making praline, he goes and downloads the recipe from the internet, buys a baking tray and actually makes the praline. Amazing.
There's a strange thing happening in Australia right now to heterosexual men, something I like to call "The Masterchef Effect."
Suddenly these men who had previously attempted to cook nothing more complex than meat on a barbeque, are not only interested in food, they think they can be the next George Calombaris. Six months ago they had no idea who George Calombaris was (but potentially like Taxman had eaten the fantastic donuts at The Press Club.)
A straw pole at work today confirmed that this was reaching H1N1 pandemic status. One colleague said her husband is even considering entering Masterchef next year.
And on the weekend past at a routine, and expensive, visit to the great Peter's of Kensington I saw fathers leading small children around saying "Look kids, it's just like the paella pan used on Masterchef!"
For me Masterchef is the first truly cyber-interactive television, I've become very fond of watching the program while following the Twitter comments online - it's very entertaining to follow the public mood as the show progresses.
As for the praline, of course once made who wants to eat a kilo of sugar and almonds? But blitzed in my new Peter's of Kensington purchased food processor and mixed with vanilla ice cream it was pretty damn good.
Keep it up Taxman.
It's hard to define how strange that statement was. Taxman is not a cook. Taxman is not really even an eater. He's never been someone who spent much time focusing on food, content to exist on mint slices, white bread, vita brits and spaghetti sauce from a jar. That said, three years living with me has, in his own lovely words from our wedding, taught him that hats were not just something you wear on your head.
He carried it through. He not only says he's making praline, he goes and downloads the recipe from the internet, buys a baking tray and actually makes the praline. Amazing.
There's a strange thing happening in Australia right now to heterosexual men, something I like to call "The Masterchef Effect."
Suddenly these men who had previously attempted to cook nothing more complex than meat on a barbeque, are not only interested in food, they think they can be the next George Calombaris. Six months ago they had no idea who George Calombaris was (but potentially like Taxman had eaten the fantastic donuts at The Press Club.)
A straw pole at work today confirmed that this was reaching H1N1 pandemic status. One colleague said her husband is even considering entering Masterchef next year.
And on the weekend past at a routine, and expensive, visit to the great Peter's of Kensington I saw fathers leading small children around saying "Look kids, it's just like the paella pan used on Masterchef!"
For me Masterchef is the first truly cyber-interactive television, I've become very fond of watching the program while following the Twitter comments online - it's very entertaining to follow the public mood as the show progresses.
As for the praline, of course once made who wants to eat a kilo of sugar and almonds? But blitzed in my new Peter's of Kensington purchased food processor and mixed with vanilla ice cream it was pretty damn good.
Keep it up Taxman.
13 May 2009
Final Leg
I started writing this in on my final day in Tokyo, added to it in the sweat inducing humidity of Langkawi and am completing it as the sun goes down on a chilly, yet sunny afternoon in Sydney.
We returned to Tokyo when the weather was poor, and spent a lot of time with wet feet for the first 24 hours, rapidly understanding why there is such a large range of fashion orientated gumboots.
The final train journey I succumbed to some postmodern self indulgence and listened to the Lost in Translation soundtrack as the shinkansen cut its way through the mists. As befits the melancholy heroine of the film I spent a fair amount of the journey in self reflection, this trip for me is marking a few great turning points in my life, some voluntary, some just necessary.
The Translation theme continued of the final days as we stayed in a large hotel not completely unlike the one in the film, we even had drinks in the bar on the 42nd floor watching the red links blink across the Tokyo skyline as night fell.
In my last days I hit the shops buying gifts and trinkets, books to get my through the 5 days in Langkawi (I read 10 books over the 23 travelling days, many complete rubbish but I do recommend Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife, all her books are amazing) and odds and ends. I also completed my Japanese eating list, which when sung to the tune of "I've been everywhere man" sounds quite impressive...sushi, sashimi, sukiaki, okonomiyaki, shabu shabu, yakitori, tonkatsu, ramen, udon, soba....all supplemented with a steady stream of beef bowls, something I've been obsessed with long before coming to Japan.
We spent one day ticking off the places we hadn't seen, but thought we should see. There was a reason they weren't higher up the viewing list and none impressed us that much. I guess we weren't geeky enough to love Akihabara, though the fact you can by a PC for under $700 that does everything you could need if pretty amazing. Ginza, as Simon suggested, is overrated, though it does out 5th avenue 5th avenue is some ways with the sheer scope of the $. The $1million necklace in the window of Van Cleef & Arpels is now on my birthday wishlist in case anyone is interested.
One highlight was going to the Tokyo Dome to see the Yomiuri Giants play the Chunichi Dragons. As a tall man walked out to pitch the opening ball I said to Taxman, "Who's that?"
"Tom Hanks" replied he.
"Right...sure."
But sure enough it WAS Tom Hanks, and he pitched (badly) to Ron Howard while Brian Grazer and his son watched on. They then retired to a box to watch the game. Tough life promoting these films apparently.
The game was one sided, the Giants winning 10-2, but the atmosphere was great and the Chunichi crowd, though small compared to the 20,000 or so Giants fans, put up a loud and melodic fight chant wise. The beer wenches, of which there were many, were kept busy, as were the Saki wenches, the bento wenches, the ice-cream wenches, hot dog wenches and juice wenches. Taxman proved himself to be the 'Goldilocks of Baseball caps' after he claimed none of the 500 or so varieties they had at the ground were what he wanted.
Saturday I discarded Taxman early, after a brief trip to Shibuya to catch the Hachiko statue that we missed first visit. (Do read the story on the link, like Christian the Lion it is guaranteed to make anyone cry.) We also visited (but didn't stay at ) Love Hotel Hill, where a 90 minute 'rest' will cost 3000 yen or so. I had to cut Taxman loose as I was spending the day at the big end of town fashion wise. I started at the designer end of Omote Sando, where the amazing Prada store stands out both architecturally and fashion wise. It symbolizes the millions companies put into the Japanese market to have their brand stand out in the most competitive shopping place on earth.
I spent time lovingly looking at the great Japanese designers, Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake in particular. Walking back up the street towards Harajuku the mood shifts from designer to street and the pop culture mood takes over. Not for the first time this trip I chanted "I'm 35...I'm 35" to remind myself that spending on such fashion was not a wise choice.
I was hoping to see the famous Cosplay girls who frequent the area on weekends, and while there were some in the mess of people, photo opportunities weren't forthcoming. I satisfied myself with visiting the Laforet Museum to see the "Harajuku Dolls" Exhibition. The exhibition featured all sorts of dolls, from Barbie likenesses to Blythe Dolls (huge in Japan) dressed in amazing costumes that ranged from S&M wear to alien and zombie themes. The only thing weirder (and more disconcerting) was that many of the people at the exhibition where dressed in full size versions of the same things!
So ended our time in Japan, a great cultural experience and Tokyo is one of the best cities in the world. Happy to return any time.
We arrived in Langkawi at night, happy to be off planes and out of the KL airport, which I am beginning to despise just because of the sheer amount of time spent there in the past month.
We got the warm welcome and a upgrade conversation at the Westin, but we're pretty sure we're in the room we booked, upgrade promise or not. First night atmosphere dominated by a bad cocktail act which kept me awake until midnight, and after being up since 5am I was not a happy camper. Thankfully the only noise we heard after that one night were the sound of what can only be described as ultrasonic cicadas.
The world looks a lot better when you open your doors to the Andaman Sea. While never being a big fan of typical beach holidays, I think I could get used to this life for just a little bit longer. While a few tropical rain showers came our way, in general it was warm and water friendly. The exchange rate makes eating in the hotel less terrifying than normal hotel prices, and with breakfast included we went to town on the morning buffet. (Just imagine every breakfast option there is, from the West and Asia, and you've pictured the breakfast buffet....I'm excited. And there are scales in the room, so I know that while I may have turned all my personal training sculptured muscle into something less likable I haven't ballooned as my blog writing may have suggested!)
We did venture out to the real world only to discover it is not as exciting as our luxurious world by the pool. But weirdly the main staples for purchase in Kuah town were luggage, cooking ware and chocolate. In face I've never seen a country so obsessed with chocolate - it is everywhere. Maybe people jet in to by luggage and fill them with chocolates to take home?? In our opinion it is too hot for chocolate.
Aside from walks, the odd massage and reading a mountain of books there was little to blog about. And photos would only make everyone jealous. That wont stop me posting some later though.
Alas now we are home, washing mountains of clothes and preparing for a return to work on Monday.
The real world sucks.
We returned to Tokyo when the weather was poor, and spent a lot of time with wet feet for the first 24 hours, rapidly understanding why there is such a large range of fashion orientated gumboots.
The final train journey I succumbed to some postmodern self indulgence and listened to the Lost in Translation soundtrack as the shinkansen cut its way through the mists. As befits the melancholy heroine of the film I spent a fair amount of the journey in self reflection, this trip for me is marking a few great turning points in my life, some voluntary, some just necessary.
The Translation theme continued of the final days as we stayed in a large hotel not completely unlike the one in the film, we even had drinks in the bar on the 42nd floor watching the red links blink across the Tokyo skyline as night fell.
In my last days I hit the shops buying gifts and trinkets, books to get my through the 5 days in Langkawi (I read 10 books over the 23 travelling days, many complete rubbish but I do recommend Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife, all her books are amazing) and odds and ends. I also completed my Japanese eating list, which when sung to the tune of "I've been everywhere man" sounds quite impressive...sushi, sashimi, sukiaki, okonomiyaki, shabu shabu, yakitori, tonkatsu, ramen, udon, soba....all supplemented with a steady stream of beef bowls, something I've been obsessed with long before coming to Japan.
We spent one day ticking off the places we hadn't seen, but thought we should see. There was a reason they weren't higher up the viewing list and none impressed us that much. I guess we weren't geeky enough to love Akihabara, though the fact you can by a PC for under $700 that does everything you could need if pretty amazing. Ginza, as Simon suggested, is overrated, though it does out 5th avenue 5th avenue is some ways with the sheer scope of the $. The $1million necklace in the window of Van Cleef & Arpels is now on my birthday wishlist in case anyone is interested.
One highlight was going to the Tokyo Dome to see the Yomiuri Giants play the Chunichi Dragons. As a tall man walked out to pitch the opening ball I said to Taxman, "Who's that?"
"Tom Hanks" replied he.
"Right...sure."
But sure enough it WAS Tom Hanks, and he pitched (badly) to Ron Howard while Brian Grazer and his son watched on. They then retired to a box to watch the game. Tough life promoting these films apparently.
The game was one sided, the Giants winning 10-2, but the atmosphere was great and the Chunichi crowd, though small compared to the 20,000 or so Giants fans, put up a loud and melodic fight chant wise. The beer wenches, of which there were many, were kept busy, as were the Saki wenches, the bento wenches, the ice-cream wenches, hot dog wenches and juice wenches. Taxman proved himself to be the 'Goldilocks of Baseball caps' after he claimed none of the 500 or so varieties they had at the ground were what he wanted.
Saturday I discarded Taxman early, after a brief trip to Shibuya to catch the Hachiko statue that we missed first visit. (Do read the story on the link, like Christian the Lion it is guaranteed to make anyone cry.) We also visited (but didn't stay at ) Love Hotel Hill, where a 90 minute 'rest' will cost 3000 yen or so. I had to cut Taxman loose as I was spending the day at the big end of town fashion wise. I started at the designer end of Omote Sando, where the amazing Prada store stands out both architecturally and fashion wise. It symbolizes the millions companies put into the Japanese market to have their brand stand out in the most competitive shopping place on earth.
I spent time lovingly looking at the great Japanese designers, Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake in particular. Walking back up the street towards Harajuku the mood shifts from designer to street and the pop culture mood takes over. Not for the first time this trip I chanted "I'm 35...I'm 35" to remind myself that spending on such fashion was not a wise choice.
I was hoping to see the famous Cosplay girls who frequent the area on weekends, and while there were some in the mess of people, photo opportunities weren't forthcoming. I satisfied myself with visiting the Laforet Museum to see the "Harajuku Dolls" Exhibition. The exhibition featured all sorts of dolls, from Barbie likenesses to Blythe Dolls (huge in Japan) dressed in amazing costumes that ranged from S&M wear to alien and zombie themes. The only thing weirder (and more disconcerting) was that many of the people at the exhibition where dressed in full size versions of the same things!
So ended our time in Japan, a great cultural experience and Tokyo is one of the best cities in the world. Happy to return any time.
We arrived in Langkawi at night, happy to be off planes and out of the KL airport, which I am beginning to despise just because of the sheer amount of time spent there in the past month.
We got the warm welcome and a upgrade conversation at the Westin, but we're pretty sure we're in the room we booked, upgrade promise or not. First night atmosphere dominated by a bad cocktail act which kept me awake until midnight, and after being up since 5am I was not a happy camper. Thankfully the only noise we heard after that one night were the sound of what can only be described as ultrasonic cicadas.
The world looks a lot better when you open your doors to the Andaman Sea. While never being a big fan of typical beach holidays, I think I could get used to this life for just a little bit longer. While a few tropical rain showers came our way, in general it was warm and water friendly. The exchange rate makes eating in the hotel less terrifying than normal hotel prices, and with breakfast included we went to town on the morning buffet. (Just imagine every breakfast option there is, from the West and Asia, and you've pictured the breakfast buffet....I'm excited. And there are scales in the room, so I know that while I may have turned all my personal training sculptured muscle into something less likable I haven't ballooned as my blog writing may have suggested!)
We did venture out to the real world only to discover it is not as exciting as our luxurious world by the pool. But weirdly the main staples for purchase in Kuah town were luggage, cooking ware and chocolate. In face I've never seen a country so obsessed with chocolate - it is everywhere. Maybe people jet in to by luggage and fill them with chocolates to take home?? In our opinion it is too hot for chocolate.
Aside from walks, the odd massage and reading a mountain of books there was little to blog about. And photos would only make everyone jealous. That wont stop me posting some later though.
Alas now we are home, washing mountains of clothes and preparing for a return to work on Monday.
The real world sucks.
06 May 2009
Golden Week in Kyoto (and Nara)
Golden Week in Japan is one of the biggest holiday seasons all year, and it happens to coincide with our visit to Kyoto. Consequently we were lucky to find accommodation as everyone from every other city in Japan seems to have arrived in Kyoto for the holidays.
According to census data, Kyoto has 1.4million people, but it feels much bigger than Fukuoka or Hiroshima, which were only marginally smaller. Arriving at Kyoto's impressive station each day to get our bus to the various major city sites, we've been overwhelmed by the crowds.
It's not a beautiful city at first glance, grey and ugly in the centre, but hidden in little pockets, near the mountains or down alley ways, are places of extreme loveliness. You just have to find them - sometimes that hasn't been easy.
Our first full day we had a busy schedule, in the morning we tried to cover as much of Southern Higashiyama as possible, which was a daunting task. The buses were packed to the brim and traffic crawled through the city as everyone headed to the same place we did - Kiyomizu Dera. We all marched together like a tourist army up a little alley way named "Teapot Lane". Kiyomizu Dera was built in 1633 it is one of Kyoto's most famous landmarks. The main hall seems to hang on the hillside and there is a wonderful view back over the city.
After following the throngs of people through this temple, we walked though some of the old alleys and streets around Higashiyama, filled with little shops and tea houses. We found what is described as the most charming street in all Kyoto, Ishibei-Koji, and were very pleased to find that is was a) extremely pretty and b) completely deserted as the crowds had surged elsewhere.
We walked through Maruyama-Koen, passed Kyoto's most famous cherry tree (not in bloom right now) and down to Chion-In, one the largest temples in Kyoto. From here, we raced to the bus to get back to Kyoto Station.
In the afternoon we joined the Kyoto Cycle Tour Project for a short cycling tour of the back streets. After walking everywhere for 2 weeks it felt great to be using another mode of transport. Our guide, Hiroko-san, sped through the streets like a demon and we struggled to keep up. We spent quite a bit of time in two of the "flower towns" or hanamachi. These districts are where the Geiko (Geisha) and Maiko live and work. There are only approximately 200 Geiko and Maiko in Kyoto these days, so it is very difficult to see a real one. It is quite easy to see Japanese tourists dressed as them though, they are everywhere. The districts are the old fashioned idea of what a Japan town should look like though and it was an enjoyable look around.
We also visited a machiya, or traditional house, to see how they were structured, before having tea and sweets on the way home. Taxman was not fond of the Japanese sweets and having ordered the most elaborate concoction of matcha (green tea) ice cream, red beans and soy cakes there was on the menu he proceeded to eat none of it leaving me to try as much as possible so not to look impolite. The soy cakes were an experience not unlike eating tablespoons of peanut butter coated with the asthma inhaler power I used to have to take as a child. It seemed to suck all the moisture out of my mouth and simultaneously fill my lungs.
After an exhausting day we awoke weary the following morning. A slow start, but we returned to Northern Higashiyama to complete more temple visits. Nanzen Ji was one of the most impressive we've seen with beautiful structures and gardens. The paths laid out to follow work well, as even though everywhere is crowded with people you still get uninterrupted views of the gardens. By the end of the Kyoto leg of our Japan tour I have around 700 photos of various gardens.
We walked next along the Tetsugaku-no-michi, or Path of Philosophy, that follows the carp filled canal lined with cherry trees. Alas enlightenment did not come.
Finally we visited Ginkaku-ji, where unfortunately the main hall was being renovated, but the amazing gardens and smaller buildings were open. There are some fantastic sand gardens along with the beautiful woodland surrounding.
We decided to walk back to central Kyoto to visit the Imperial Palace Park, which I personally could have forgone (headache and sore feet), but at least we're exercising.
While we have clearly been overdosing on Kyoto's temples, we decided to break it up a bit and spend a day in Nara where a whole new stack of temples awaited. After a 60 minute train ride we spent the day following a path through Nara Koen. Nara is home to a large amount of the most well fed deer on the planet. For 150 yen you can buy deer crackers to feed them (apparently they are also eaten by the odd clueless tourist) and clearly these deer do little but eat crackers all day every day.
Stop one was Kofuko-Ji where we visited the second tallest pagoda in Japan, 5 stories. There was a 3 story one too, but we couldn't find it until we made the return journey on the way back.
Our second temple was Todai-ji. The main hall, Daibutsu-Den Hall is the world's largest wooden structure, and amazingly it is actually two thirds smaller than the original. Within it is a great Buddha of over 16m, cast in bronze. There is also a little hole in one of the base structures, where apparently if you can fit through it, you are ensured enlightenment. It's a pretty small hole and from what we saw only the kiddies are on the path right now. It's frustrating to know that to be ensured enlightenment you can't have child bearing hips, it's bad enough I can't buy good jeans!
We then continued on through the park following winding paths to Kasuga Taisha, a temple surrounded by hundreds of lanterns, and back towards the train station. Along the way we visited little shrines and many, many overweight deer.
Our last day in Kyoto we spent in Arashiyama, and thankfully it was relatively quiet given the Golden Week festivities are over. Arashiyama is on the Eastern side of Kyoto and, like Higashiyama, it is nestled at the edges of the city surrounded by hills. Arashiyama reminded me of the Dandenongs a little, but with matcha and red bean instead of tea and scones. Maybe it was just because of the relative peace and quiet, but I enjoyed visiting here more than the previous days.
We started with Tenryu-ji, a temple surrounded by 14th century gardens that were just spectacular. We followed the path behind the gardens to exit, which leads through Arashiyama's famous bamboo groves (which the Lonely Planet says are a dead ringer for those in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I can agree with this.) We edged around the mountains also visiting Jojakko-Ki and Adashino Nembutsu-Ji before catching the bus back to Downtown Kyoto in search of a sento. Of course we were frustrated in our search initially, ending up back near the station.
When we did finally find a public bath I was denied entry due the fact I may be mistaken for a yakuza gang member! Something I had a feeling might happen.
I haven't written too much about food this leg, conscious of the fact I seemed to previously write about nothing else. That said we've been a little frustrated with food in Kyoto (OK, I've been frustrated) as with the crowds descending on the city we've been able to spot every recommended eating house by the massive queues formed outside. This has lead to some so so meals, nothing terrible though. I had sushi one night that was better than any sushi I've had back home tenfold and I could haapily eat rice every day for the rest of my life.
Tomorrow we return for our final few days in Tokyo, and a trip to the Tokyo Dome for baseball, before we begin the journey home (via Langkawi!!!)
According to census data, Kyoto has 1.4million people, but it feels much bigger than Fukuoka or Hiroshima, which were only marginally smaller. Arriving at Kyoto's impressive station each day to get our bus to the various major city sites, we've been overwhelmed by the crowds.
It's not a beautiful city at first glance, grey and ugly in the centre, but hidden in little pockets, near the mountains or down alley ways, are places of extreme loveliness. You just have to find them - sometimes that hasn't been easy.
Our first full day we had a busy schedule, in the morning we tried to cover as much of Southern Higashiyama as possible, which was a daunting task. The buses were packed to the brim and traffic crawled through the city as everyone headed to the same place we did - Kiyomizu Dera. We all marched together like a tourist army up a little alley way named "Teapot Lane". Kiyomizu Dera was built in 1633 it is one of Kyoto's most famous landmarks. The main hall seems to hang on the hillside and there is a wonderful view back over the city.
After following the throngs of people through this temple, we walked though some of the old alleys and streets around Higashiyama, filled with little shops and tea houses. We found what is described as the most charming street in all Kyoto, Ishibei-Koji, and were very pleased to find that is was a) extremely pretty and b) completely deserted as the crowds had surged elsewhere.
We walked through Maruyama-Koen, passed Kyoto's most famous cherry tree (not in bloom right now) and down to Chion-In, one the largest temples in Kyoto. From here, we raced to the bus to get back to Kyoto Station.
In the afternoon we joined the Kyoto Cycle Tour Project for a short cycling tour of the back streets. After walking everywhere for 2 weeks it felt great to be using another mode of transport. Our guide, Hiroko-san, sped through the streets like a demon and we struggled to keep up. We spent quite a bit of time in two of the "flower towns" or hanamachi. These districts are where the Geiko (Geisha) and Maiko live and work. There are only approximately 200 Geiko and Maiko in Kyoto these days, so it is very difficult to see a real one. It is quite easy to see Japanese tourists dressed as them though, they are everywhere. The districts are the old fashioned idea of what a Japan town should look like though and it was an enjoyable look around.
We also visited a machiya, or traditional house, to see how they were structured, before having tea and sweets on the way home. Taxman was not fond of the Japanese sweets and having ordered the most elaborate concoction of matcha (green tea) ice cream, red beans and soy cakes there was on the menu he proceeded to eat none of it leaving me to try as much as possible so not to look impolite. The soy cakes were an experience not unlike eating tablespoons of peanut butter coated with the asthma inhaler power I used to have to take as a child. It seemed to suck all the moisture out of my mouth and simultaneously fill my lungs.
After an exhausting day we awoke weary the following morning. A slow start, but we returned to Northern Higashiyama to complete more temple visits. Nanzen Ji was one of the most impressive we've seen with beautiful structures and gardens. The paths laid out to follow work well, as even though everywhere is crowded with people you still get uninterrupted views of the gardens. By the end of the Kyoto leg of our Japan tour I have around 700 photos of various gardens.
We walked next along the Tetsugaku-no-michi, or Path of Philosophy, that follows the carp filled canal lined with cherry trees. Alas enlightenment did not come.
Finally we visited Ginkaku-ji, where unfortunately the main hall was being renovated, but the amazing gardens and smaller buildings were open. There are some fantastic sand gardens along with the beautiful woodland surrounding.
We decided to walk back to central Kyoto to visit the Imperial Palace Park, which I personally could have forgone (headache and sore feet), but at least we're exercising.
While we have clearly been overdosing on Kyoto's temples, we decided to break it up a bit and spend a day in Nara where a whole new stack of temples awaited. After a 60 minute train ride we spent the day following a path through Nara Koen. Nara is home to a large amount of the most well fed deer on the planet. For 150 yen you can buy deer crackers to feed them (apparently they are also eaten by the odd clueless tourist) and clearly these deer do little but eat crackers all day every day.
Stop one was Kofuko-Ji where we visited the second tallest pagoda in Japan, 5 stories. There was a 3 story one too, but we couldn't find it until we made the return journey on the way back.
Our second temple was Todai-ji. The main hall, Daibutsu-Den Hall is the world's largest wooden structure, and amazingly it is actually two thirds smaller than the original. Within it is a great Buddha of over 16m, cast in bronze. There is also a little hole in one of the base structures, where apparently if you can fit through it, you are ensured enlightenment. It's a pretty small hole and from what we saw only the kiddies are on the path right now. It's frustrating to know that to be ensured enlightenment you can't have child bearing hips, it's bad enough I can't buy good jeans!
We then continued on through the park following winding paths to Kasuga Taisha, a temple surrounded by hundreds of lanterns, and back towards the train station. Along the way we visited little shrines and many, many overweight deer.
Our last day in Kyoto we spent in Arashiyama, and thankfully it was relatively quiet given the Golden Week festivities are over. Arashiyama is on the Eastern side of Kyoto and, like Higashiyama, it is nestled at the edges of the city surrounded by hills. Arashiyama reminded me of the Dandenongs a little, but with matcha and red bean instead of tea and scones. Maybe it was just because of the relative peace and quiet, but I enjoyed visiting here more than the previous days.
We started with Tenryu-ji, a temple surrounded by 14th century gardens that were just spectacular. We followed the path behind the gardens to exit, which leads through Arashiyama's famous bamboo groves (which the Lonely Planet says are a dead ringer for those in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I can agree with this.) We edged around the mountains also visiting Jojakko-Ki and Adashino Nembutsu-Ji before catching the bus back to Downtown Kyoto in search of a sento. Of course we were frustrated in our search initially, ending up back near the station.
When we did finally find a public bath I was denied entry due the fact I may be mistaken for a yakuza gang member! Something I had a feeling might happen.
I haven't written too much about food this leg, conscious of the fact I seemed to previously write about nothing else. That said we've been a little frustrated with food in Kyoto (OK, I've been frustrated) as with the crowds descending on the city we've been able to spot every recommended eating house by the massive queues formed outside. This has lead to some so so meals, nothing terrible though. I had sushi one night that was better than any sushi I've had back home tenfold and I could haapily eat rice every day for the rest of my life.
Tomorrow we return for our final few days in Tokyo, and a trip to the Tokyo Dome for baseball, before we begin the journey home (via Langkawi!!!)
01 May 2009
Beak to tail eating, public nudity and tranquility in Hiroshima.
I'm in bad Internet cafe with a crappy keyboard, so if there are spaces missing, so be it.
In answer to Miss C's question- shopping for hats, jackets, t-shirts....and I'm preparing a mega list for my last weekend in Tokyo.
After my last post we headed out in search of good yakitori, and boy did we find it. Squashed into a room with lots of loud locals, we pointed to what we wanted and then watched as it got cooked on a central coal fired grill. My choices involved zucchini, asparagus, chicken, beef and enoki mushroom. Taxman's involved liver, so needless to say he can't choose any more. Seems to be the only place where locals take their time eating, spending hours drinking sake and gesticulating with cigarettes. For us it was all washed down with copious amount of beer it was an enjoyable way to spend the night in Fukuoka.
The following day we planned a day trip to Nagasaki. All went great to start with, we made it to Hakata Station and jumped on the first train to Nagasaki. From there, however, things went a little pear shaped. The trip was meant to last 2 hours, but somehow we ended up dropped in Sasebo, not Nagasaki, and the resulting trip meant we arrived 4 hours post departure. Sure we got a good look at the island on Kyushu, but it severely curtailed our plans.
A quick lunch and we headed to the Nagasaki Peace Park and the Atomic Museum. There are statues from around the world commemorating the events that occurred at 11:15am August 9 1945 and the museum gives an in depth view of not only the atomic explosion but the development of nuclear weapons and the attempts to eradicate them. A sobering experience, worth the frustrating trip. A less sobering highlight were the street car drivers, who it turns out (all of them) have a peculiar speech pattern in that they extend their last syllable of each line. In an almost sing song manner we'd hear "kudesaaaiiii" or "deeesssuuu". Now I've travelled in subsequent street cars I can confirm it is a regional quirk.
We got a standard train home, me entertained by an audio book of Wuthering Heights, and returned to Fukuoka for mundane tasks like washing.
Thursday dawned bright and sunny and we boarded our next bullet train to Hiroshima. Right from the outset Hiroshima feels like a different place. It is a lot calmer than Tokyo or Fukuoka, a much more laid back experience. We are staying in our first ryokan, though it is a hotel style. As we arrived we saw Taxman's name listed on a wooden block at the door, and we had our own shoe shelf available for all footwear. We have a large rooms, bigger than some small apartments, with low set tables and chairs on the tatami matting. At night they are moved for the traditional bedding to be laid out. We have a view over the Atomic Dome, and there are baths on the top floor. Taxman was a big fan of the baths, or sento, and claimed he felt "more clean" after a time in there than from regular showering. OK, whatever. My first attempt at visiting them I ran into a group of school kids. Public nudity I'm fine with, but public nudity with 10 year olds is a bit much.
Overall the ryokan was a little noisy, but beautiful. We also received breakfast, western for Taxman, Japanese style for me. 8am is a little too early for miso, but I'm learning to love it. I managed to get my head around rice, semi cooked egg, silken tofu, yet for some reason I'm not getting fish like everyone else. This morning I got a serve of what I think was beans. I've been watching Japanese eat these regularly and was itching to try them. They mix them with soy and a yellow paste rapidly with chopsticks, and there is an almost taffy like thread that appears. Today I went through the routine eagerly...only to take the first bite. I'm guessing it is what one calls an acquired taste.
We spent our first afternoon in Hiroshima viewing the Dome, The Peace Park and the Hiroshima Peace Museum. Making the two days back to back in Nagasaki and Hiroshima quite emotionally exhausting. The whole Peace Park in Hiroshima is very tranquil and it is worth the visit.
Tranquility was destroyed somewhat by the hundreds of school children in blue caps running rampant. They all had an assignment to do where they needed to interview English speakers, so we got approached by many. Me more than Taxman as I must have looked like and easy touch.
In the evening we found a little restaurant where we could cook our own meats on a grill in the table. Beef, chicken, pork and assorted offal all available. Not sure what the first or third bread basket is in a cow, but wasn't about to find out. Best meal we've had, declared Taxman. (We didn't order offal.)
Friday we caught the street car all the way to the end of the line, then boarded a ferry to Miyajima. Home to the Itsukushima Shrine , a World Heritage site and one of the top 3 photographed placed in Japan. Truly lovely to see, but it was the first place we've encountered masses of tourists. First place we've encountered tame deer too, so not all bad! (The signs say that the deer will a) eat paper and b) bite babies - I was eager to see someone (not necessarily a baby, I'm not mean) get bitten, but no such luck.
Hiroshima and Miyajima area famous, culinary wise, for seafood, especially oysters, sweets and okonomiyaki or Japanese pancakes. I managed two MASSIVE oysters on Miyajima, cooked in their shell on a grill and served with soy. Not really fond of hot oysters, but their size alone was impressive. Sweets wise there are hundreds of shops making little maple cakes, filled with cream, jam or red bean. I tried a jam one - very nice. I fear that okonomiyaki, however, is going to be the great missed culinary opportunity of Japan.
I was aiming for pancake last night, but it was gentleman's' choice (marriage is about compromise apparently.) Given Fukuoka's yakitori success Taxman recommended another one. A little more upmarket. A simple equation of meat plus fire is all it takes to make him happy.
It turns out his choice was a place devoted to all things chicken. We ended up having a type of "nose to tail" (or beak to tail) chicken experience, including breast, skin, neck, heart, liver and egg. Which of course begged the questions - should the egg have come first? It finished with chicken soup and I will happily forgo chook for the next few weeks.
Today we arrived in Kyoto, checked in to a new ryokan (slightly less impressive than Hiroshima's, but with free Internet) and did some half hearted sight seeing. A little weary. Kyoto train station is an impressive structure in its' own right, and we visited the first of many temples. We're staying in a more residential neighbourhood, which is a good change, but a lot of walking is ahead of us. Probably good to counterbalance the food!
(I'm conscious that I seem to be writing about very little but food....Japan is really quite interesting all round though!)
A few asides:
1. Jazz is played in every dining establishment, from big band to torch songs it is ever present.
2. Lot's of scooters about - many "pimped"!
3. Could spend hours on Japanese fashion, suffice to say if you can imagine it right now, someone is wearing it somewhere.
4. Baseball is huge, and we've come through Hawks, Giants and Carps territory, no in Tiger land. I've been trying to get Taxman to get a Carps hat to replace his much missed Red Sox one, but they don't meet his exacting standards. He got a t-shirt though. Must have been a game today as there were fans everywhere. We aim to get to a game in Tokyo if we can.
In answer to Miss C's question- shopping for hats, jackets, t-shirts....and I'm preparing a mega list for my last weekend in Tokyo.
After my last post we headed out in search of good yakitori, and boy did we find it. Squashed into a room with lots of loud locals, we pointed to what we wanted and then watched as it got cooked on a central coal fired grill. My choices involved zucchini, asparagus, chicken, beef and enoki mushroom. Taxman's involved liver, so needless to say he can't choose any more. Seems to be the only place where locals take their time eating, spending hours drinking sake and gesticulating with cigarettes. For us it was all washed down with copious amount of beer it was an enjoyable way to spend the night in Fukuoka.
The following day we planned a day trip to Nagasaki. All went great to start with, we made it to Hakata Station and jumped on the first train to Nagasaki. From there, however, things went a little pear shaped. The trip was meant to last 2 hours, but somehow we ended up dropped in Sasebo, not Nagasaki, and the resulting trip meant we arrived 4 hours post departure. Sure we got a good look at the island on Kyushu, but it severely curtailed our plans.
A quick lunch and we headed to the Nagasaki Peace Park and the Atomic Museum. There are statues from around the world commemorating the events that occurred at 11:15am August 9 1945 and the museum gives an in depth view of not only the atomic explosion but the development of nuclear weapons and the attempts to eradicate them. A sobering experience, worth the frustrating trip. A less sobering highlight were the street car drivers, who it turns out (all of them) have a peculiar speech pattern in that they extend their last syllable of each line. In an almost sing song manner we'd hear "kudesaaaiiii" or "deeesssuuu". Now I've travelled in subsequent street cars I can confirm it is a regional quirk.
We got a standard train home, me entertained by an audio book of Wuthering Heights, and returned to Fukuoka for mundane tasks like washing.
Thursday dawned bright and sunny and we boarded our next bullet train to Hiroshima. Right from the outset Hiroshima feels like a different place. It is a lot calmer than Tokyo or Fukuoka, a much more laid back experience. We are staying in our first ryokan, though it is a hotel style. As we arrived we saw Taxman's name listed on a wooden block at the door, and we had our own shoe shelf available for all footwear. We have a large rooms, bigger than some small apartments, with low set tables and chairs on the tatami matting. At night they are moved for the traditional bedding to be laid out. We have a view over the Atomic Dome, and there are baths on the top floor. Taxman was a big fan of the baths, or sento, and claimed he felt "more clean" after a time in there than from regular showering. OK, whatever. My first attempt at visiting them I ran into a group of school kids. Public nudity I'm fine with, but public nudity with 10 year olds is a bit much.
Overall the ryokan was a little noisy, but beautiful. We also received breakfast, western for Taxman, Japanese style for me. 8am is a little too early for miso, but I'm learning to love it. I managed to get my head around rice, semi cooked egg, silken tofu, yet for some reason I'm not getting fish like everyone else. This morning I got a serve of what I think was beans. I've been watching Japanese eat these regularly and was itching to try them. They mix them with soy and a yellow paste rapidly with chopsticks, and there is an almost taffy like thread that appears. Today I went through the routine eagerly...only to take the first bite. I'm guessing it is what one calls an acquired taste.
We spent our first afternoon in Hiroshima viewing the Dome, The Peace Park and the Hiroshima Peace Museum. Making the two days back to back in Nagasaki and Hiroshima quite emotionally exhausting. The whole Peace Park in Hiroshima is very tranquil and it is worth the visit.
Tranquility was destroyed somewhat by the hundreds of school children in blue caps running rampant. They all had an assignment to do where they needed to interview English speakers, so we got approached by many. Me more than Taxman as I must have looked like and easy touch.
In the evening we found a little restaurant where we could cook our own meats on a grill in the table. Beef, chicken, pork and assorted offal all available. Not sure what the first or third bread basket is in a cow, but wasn't about to find out. Best meal we've had, declared Taxman. (We didn't order offal.)
Friday we caught the street car all the way to the end of the line, then boarded a ferry to Miyajima. Home to the Itsukushima Shrine , a World Heritage site and one of the top 3 photographed placed in Japan. Truly lovely to see, but it was the first place we've encountered masses of tourists. First place we've encountered tame deer too, so not all bad! (The signs say that the deer will a) eat paper and b) bite babies - I was eager to see someone (not necessarily a baby, I'm not mean) get bitten, but no such luck.
Hiroshima and Miyajima area famous, culinary wise, for seafood, especially oysters, sweets and okonomiyaki or Japanese pancakes. I managed two MASSIVE oysters on Miyajima, cooked in their shell on a grill and served with soy. Not really fond of hot oysters, but their size alone was impressive. Sweets wise there are hundreds of shops making little maple cakes, filled with cream, jam or red bean. I tried a jam one - very nice. I fear that okonomiyaki, however, is going to be the great missed culinary opportunity of Japan.
I was aiming for pancake last night, but it was gentleman's' choice (marriage is about compromise apparently.) Given Fukuoka's yakitori success Taxman recommended another one. A little more upmarket. A simple equation of meat plus fire is all it takes to make him happy.
It turns out his choice was a place devoted to all things chicken. We ended up having a type of "nose to tail" (or beak to tail) chicken experience, including breast, skin, neck, heart, liver and egg. Which of course begged the questions - should the egg have come first? It finished with chicken soup and I will happily forgo chook for the next few weeks.
Today we arrived in Kyoto, checked in to a new ryokan (slightly less impressive than Hiroshima's, but with free Internet) and did some half hearted sight seeing. A little weary. Kyoto train station is an impressive structure in its' own right, and we visited the first of many temples. We're staying in a more residential neighbourhood, which is a good change, but a lot of walking is ahead of us. Probably good to counterbalance the food!
(I'm conscious that I seem to be writing about very little but food....Japan is really quite interesting all round though!)
A few asides:
1. Jazz is played in every dining establishment, from big band to torch songs it is ever present.
2. Lot's of scooters about - many "pimped"!
3. Could spend hours on Japanese fashion, suffice to say if you can imagine it right now, someone is wearing it somewhere.
4. Baseball is huge, and we've come through Hawks, Giants and Carps territory, no in Tiger land. I've been trying to get Taxman to get a Carps hat to replace his much missed Red Sox one, but they don't meet his exacting standards. He got a t-shirt though. Must have been a game today as there were fans everywhere. We aim to get to a game in Tokyo if we can.
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