I Went to Japan and Had Fun: Part 2

Hello Again Loving Family!

Kyoto is so full of ancient wonders, but, contrary to popular belief, they are not fun. I would more appropriately describe them as “far away from each other” and “hard to get to”.

Each shrine has given us a different glimpse of life in ancient Japan. We saw a Zen Rock Garden! Did you know that a rock garden consists of rocks? (I prefer rock menageries myself). The brochure for the rock garden told us it WOULD provoke philosophical thinking. I was sorely disappointed.

After the rock garden, we found the shopping mall! There, we had bubble tea and McDonalds. It was JUST like being at home!

Then my friend and I went on this forced march around Kyoto, stopping at the Imperial Palace, a shrine made entirely of gold, and some other places of less significance but equal mystique. Embracing our jet-lag, we woke up at 6:30 in the morning and got ready to adventure around the ancient city and see the old-timey ways of life people emailed us about and loved so much. Unfortunately, the city was much more spread out than we had planned for and it was 90 degrees all day. We walked 8 miles in 7 hours, and had the most disgusting lunch I have ever EVER had ever.

To clarify some of the circumstances, we were told, in an email from one of my friend’s friends, that we should "walk everywhere." Considering that everything is only a couple of inches away from each other on a map (and labeled in Japanese), how were we to assume that one shrine would be an hours worth of walking from the next? We couldn't. Everything was far away. And, apparently, on a steep, mountainous incline. It was a sweaty day.

Lunch was supposed to be vegetarian, so I was expecting some salad and soup. Instead, I got a series of inedible seaweeds and pickles, a traditional "Zen" experience that made me long for ANYTHING I COULD EAT THAT WAS NOT THAT LUNCH.

The other Kyoto experience that made us miserable was the extra-special trip my friend and I had been told to make for ice cream. We schlepped for Mochi ice cream, allegedly served from this "special" ice cream place that has been handcrafting mochi for centuries. We were told that this was the ice cream of the ancients. We were told it would be delicious. They had only one flavor: Grass.

We knew it was grass-flavored because we were told what it was many times, and then, to make sure we knew we were ordering Grass Flavored Ice Cream, the man working brought out a special translator and typed in the word "Grass". We then, despite ANY COMMOM SENSE WE COULD HAVE USED, proceeded to order two GRASS FLAVORED ICE CREAMS and tried them outside. Guess what: THE ICE CREAM WAS MADE OF GRASS.

We got back to Tokyo yesterday and then ventured to Costume Karaoke. Tokyo has been awesomely fun, and, needless to say, Kyoto was a bit of a bust. Despite all the walking we did, we didn't make it to all the shrines we had set out to see.

Also, I hate to disappoint, but don't expect any magnets when I get back. Refrigerators aren't magnetized here, so magnets are seen as useless and thus, not anywhere. I'll still keep an eye out for those magnets-from-places-that-aren’t-home you love so much, so fingers crossed.

We're about to head out to some bar that gives everyone up-do's when they enter. I have pictures of everything - in fact, this is probably my most-well documented trip in terms of both emails and images, so I’ll make sure they’re on facebook later. Brace yourselves.

See you tomorrow afternoon!
Love,
Jackie