Kyoto
Left Nikko this morning, train back to Tokyo where I caught a shinkansen, different train than the previous one I was on, faster this time, and I was on this one a lot longer, nearly 3 hours this time from Tokyo to Kyoto. They have these shops in railway stations selling “lunch boxes” here. It’s basically a meal in a box, complete with chopsticks and soy sauce, of traditional Japanese food costing anywhere from $5-$10 depending on the size and contents. I tried one of these today, I have no idea what I ate, several kinds of fish I think, but it was good. I posted a pictures of the lunch box on flickr.
Got to Kyoto in the afternoon and checked in at what seems to be the best hostel I’ve ever seen. Wireless internet access in the rooms, the showers almost look like hotel showers, everything is very clean. They also have a bar with any drink you want for $3.60! So much for expensive Japan!
I spent what was left of the daylight hours walking by some temples and parks, this city has a great feel to it. Much smaller than Tokyo, but still a good sized city at 1.5 million people. I decided very quickly that I like it a lot, more than Tokyo, which I liked.
After wandering by quite a few various shrines and not even scratching the surface of all the temples and shrines they have here, it started to get dark so I decided to look for dinner. Went to the Ponto-cho area, which according to the guidebook was a traditional nitelife area. The guidebook nailed it. It’s narrow streets, lined with restaurants with Japanese lanterns hanging outside of them. Absolutely fantastic setting, so I walk up and down these streets for a while and discover that I have problems picking where to eat because so many things sound so good! I finally picked a place, deciding I was going to spend more on dinner tonight and eat somewhere that looked more upscale, to see if there was a difference in food quality.
Oh yes.
I ordered Yuba (tofu skin), their “special” Okonomiyaki (Japanese style pancake), garlic fried rice and with some Shochu to wash it all down (distilled alcohol from sweet potatoes). The Yuba is served with peppercorns, and it is quite tasty. The fried rice was amazing, pieces of shaved garlic and scallions in it, probably the best fried rice I’ve ever had. Then the main course of Okonomiyaki came, I watched the chef take 10-15 minutes cooking it in front of me while he asked me where I was from and how long I was in Kyoto, everyone is so friendly here!
The version of Okonomiyaki I got had in it: Cabbage, Pork, Squid, Scallops, Beef and Bonito flakes. Absolutely brilliant! Amazing food!
Today was great, I love Kyoto already and I haven’t really started exploring it much yet, I met some cool people and had a few drinks at the best hostel I’ve ever stayed in, all after a great meal. Can’t wait for tomorrow now, so I’m off to bed…
Tags: Japan, Travel
Adam
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