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A brief but bumpy flight took us from South Korea's coast to Japan's capital city. By the time we arrived at our hostel in the southwest suburb of Asakusa, it was late afternoon but there was plenty of time for us to have a wander and get our bearings. After a quick look round the most appropriate thing to do seemed to go and drink some sake! Settling on a traditional looking place packed with locals, we took a seat outside and ordered beers and some warm sake. They arrived promptly, accompanied by several tiny bowls of snacks (which we assumed were free). We were then asked when we'd be ordering food as it was expected for us to order at least 1 dish each! It seemed we'd walked into an Izakaya - a type of casual, after-work Japanese drinking establishment - where it was compulsory to order food as well as drink! We ordered a couple of the cheapest dishes, dragged out the drinks for as long as we could while savouring the traditional atmosphere and about an hour later asked for the 'o-kan-jo'. For such a little amount, it was far from cheap - the 'complimentary' snacks were not free either, another local custom we would quickly have to get used to - and we started to realise how expensive drinking would be in Japan. After a quick beer in a normal bar nearby we decided we were better off buying some food and drink at the local 7eleven and taking it back to the hostel!
The next day we explored the area of Asakusa, visiting local temples and markets. Lunch was Shoyu Ramen Soba - a noodle-based dish with pork, shrimp, fish cake and vegetables, served in a broth. In Japan, a lot of restaurants have displays out front/in the windows containing plastic replicas of each dish on the menu - so you always know exactly what your food will look like! After lunch we walked to Sumida, a neighbourhood where many sumo wrestlers live and train. A quick look through the tiny sumo museum was followed by a visit to the Edo-culture museum (Tokyo used to be called Edo), which, with its interactive displays, was really interesting.
A trip to Sumida wouldn't have felt complete without seeing a sumo wrestler or two and as luck would have it on our walk back to the hostel we spotted one parking his bicycle and heading into a bank. Not wanting to miss out on a photo opportunity, we loitered outside the bank, waiting for him to come out. And we waited...pretending to check a map, pretending to take photos, pretending we were just resting...anything we could think of to avoid looking suspicious! Just when we'd run out of ways to loiter inconspicuously, out he came and I pounced, asking if I could have my photo taken with him. He seemed a little stunned - and to be fair I have no proof he actually was a 'Rikishi' other than the fact he was fat and had the special bun hairstyle! - but he graciously let us complete our sumo-stalking mission by posing for photos. Later on we checked out happy hour in a cool bar in the Roppongi district before grabbing a curry. Hardly a traditional Chinese meal but after two months without a curry it tasted pretty damn good!
After a brief but insightful stop in the nations capital we caught the bullet train west to Kyoto, one of Japan's oldest and most famous cities. Unfortunately, the drenching we got walking 10 minutes from the metro to the hostel was a sign of things to come and with most of Kyotos sights outdoors, the rest of the day was a write-off. Thankfully the hostel had a good common area and a nice vibe so it was an easy place to chill out. On the second day of rain we made a dash for Nishiki food market which was under the cover of a nearby shopping arcade. I tried a whole baby octopus which had a quails egg stuffed into its head where the brain should have been...and it was actually pretty nice! By the evening the rain had eased off so we went to Moon Bar for a few drinks. A tiny place with eccentric decor and an owner to match, it had an extensive menu of drinks priced at a ridiculously cheap 200 yen (£1.50). However we soon discovered that the glasses were small and the measures were even smaller, so after 4 drinks and not feeling remotely 'buzzed' we decided to cut our losses and head home!
The good weather finally returned the next day, so we decided to extend our stay in Kyoto by a couple of days. After switching hostels we made a short train journey to Arashiyama, an old-world, postcard-picture town set by the mountains and river. There we visited the highly recommended Bamboo Grove. Rated by Lonely Planet as number 7 on the list of things to see in the whole of Japan, we expected the spectacular and got overwhelming disappointment - what the fuss is about a short, paved road lined with bamboo trees, I will never know! Next stop was Monkey Park, at the top of the mountain where over 100 monkeys roam free. It was pretty awesome being able to walk among them in the wild and for a small fee we were even able to feed them (oddly we had to go inside a small wooden building and feed them from the inside out through a wire mesh). They were happy to pose for photos and fairly docile - apart from one that took a distinct disliking to Kate and had a swipe at her! On the way back to the station we felt we should do something a bit more cultured and visited Tenryuji temple and gardens (supposedly one of the five most important zen temples in Kyoto!). As far as temples go it was ok but the main thing I remember is the gardener hand-feeding carp in the huge garden pond!
On our last day in Kyoto we checked out Nijo castle, an old wooden fort from the Shogun era and some more famous temples I cant remember the names of! We then went for our first proper conveyor belt (or spinny spinny as Kate calls it!) sushi. The quality of the fish was really good and after 5 dishes each we were full. But, it was so tasty we couldn't stop eating and carried on grabbing plates! Another 5 dishes each later and fit to burst, we finally gave in and asked for the bill. Thoroughly stuffed we then took a slow waddle around Gion - the Geisha district - to gawk at the many local women dressed in full traditional Geisha outfits. Im not sure why they still choose to dress this way - maybe its just their 'Sunday Best' and we were lucky to see it - but it was pretty cool. They weren't too keen on being photographed though and it took our best stalking skills to get some good snaps!
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