Kyoto City Stuff

Walking from my Hotel to the Sanjusangen-do ( A really long distance! take the 100,206 or 208 bus from kyoto station instead)I went thru a covered stretch of street, that looked like a mall. Literally blocks of a continuous street have a "roof" over to make it like a mall. But people in bikes ride thru it. I saw some interesting things here. Including where God is. God Mountain is another coffee chain in Japan. The Starbucks in Japan are pretty good, in fact better than the US. Better selection of food and drinks and far better service. Ill try to get more Kyoto images tomorrow before I leave for Tokyo again.

Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle is about a little more than a half a mile from the train station. Its a bit of a walk from the Himeji property to the castle itself. This castle is one of the few remaining castles made of wood surviving in Japan. This castle is stll original from the time it was built, not a modern re-creation from after the war. This is also one of the larger castles in Japan. This is a highly recommended day trip from Kyoto or Osaka. It takes a little less than an hour by Shinkansen (bullet train). BTW it only takes 10 minutes to get to Osaka from Kyoto by Shinkansen. The Shinkansens rock! For 270 dollars to get the Japan Railways pass, is totally worth it. Ive gotten more than its worth already. I expect to go to Nagano area with it before it expires. I went to Himeji Castle even though I felt less than 100 percent(like 20) Because it was going to be the last day of sun before the rain this weekend in Kyoto area.
I pretty much took a rest when I got back to my hotel in Kyoto..

Today of course rained, and I explore Kyoto for a bit and checked out the Sanjusangen-do temple(Must see if in Kyoto, but no pictures allowed there). Felt closer to fine today..

Inside of Himeji Castle. Its a chore to climb up here, especially if your not 100 percent. Step steps that are 6 floors to the top. The steps are small, and its easy to hit your head while climbing. Note when coming inside, you have to take your shoes off, and wear slippers. Its a bit hard to main balance on the slippery slippers. Walk slowly up the stairs..

Osaka 12/26 afternoon and evening..

After Nara, I took a train to Osaka. It was about an hour to get there. Nara is also about an hour from Kyoto. I saw the aquarium and had some dinner near the hitachi tower. Unfortunately many hours later I got nasty food poisoning. Hence why there has been no updates from the blog for a few days. Im fine now..
Osaka aquarium is by the sea port, with a large Ferris Wheel next to it. Its about 500 ft tall. Theres a large tourist trap shopping center attached between the Wheel and Aquarium..

Osaka aquarium. A little pricey but worth it. The Whale Shark is cool. A little smaller than I expected. It wasnt fully grown. Full specimens grow to about 40 feet. This one was a little over 20. Some great other sharks and mantas here. Nice selection of Jelly Fish too. Penguins were being shown at the entrance of the aquarium..

Osaka at nite. I ate at the Izakaya and had a taste of blowfish sashimi at Zuboraya. One of these places got me sick. I think the Izakaya with the fried food did me. Apparently blowfish poisoning involves paralyizing of the body.. I just had run of the mill nausea that nite. But I felt like crap the next day. I still managed to go to Himeji Castle.. I wish the Japanese guide books had a sentence in phoenetic of " I have food poisoning, I need some medicine". My poor command of japanese and my body gesturing can only take me so far..


Inside one page of blowish menu

Menu cover of Blowfish centric restaurant

Nara 12/26

I went to Nara 2 days ago, and had a great time. This trip is a must if staying in Kyoto. Its a charming town, with amazing amount of historical sites in a small area. Nara is famous for the Largest buddah statue in Japan, and its plethora of "tame" deer that wander the park of the temples. The deer were worshiped in the past, and have protected status here. They pretty much have run of the park.



First of group of temples here..
Big Pagoda..
The deer! These guys are ready and waiting for tourists. They are very smart. They bow their heads when they want to be feed. You have to watch yourself and your belongings, because another one will sneak up and bump you and try to eat something on you. They will not hesitate to eat maps or brochures. They are just like goats. They are rumnants(same family). There are venders selling deer biscuits for a little more than a dollar. Once you start feeding one, the others come. I was eating a hot sweet potato from a vender, and the deer came near me. I was frantically giving away pieces of my sweet potato to about 6 or 7 deer that surrounded me. Luckily I got away alive! I recommend when leaving Nara Park, DONT give the deer eye contact. You have to treat them like homeless, or youll be eaten out of house and home.
The temple with the buddah. This buddah is about 40 feet tall from the ground to the top of his throne. Its more impressive in person. Theres some great figures surrounding him, including a smaller (half size) buddah..

Bad ass dude guarding the buddah. Buddism has cool characters for its religion. Got give them credit for making it interesting... I can see where alot of anime characters get there influence..

Temple-ing in Kyoto yesterday....

A Monk ready for work....Does whatever a Monk can...


The "Pure Water" temple. Apparently drinking the water can make you beautiful, strong , or live long..
The walk up to the pure water temple. Hilly streets with shops..
Very narrow..
The Heian Shrine
Silver Temple with sand sculpting in the gardens

The Golden Temple. The original was burned down, this is a recreation.

Kyoto Xmas day.. Evening..

Ill have some Temples and Shrines to show tomorrow. Enjoy these tidbits

Person in a Weird Costume for XMas.. Ive seen other weird suits the past couple of days, But this took the cake. I had to take this pic before I got back to my hotel tonight.

Couldnt resist getting this restaurant on camera. The crab's legs move..

Yesterday at Tsukiji, the return...

Christmas Eve "Breakfast" at Tsukiji.. The return for Sushi... And David's Dream.

Yesterday in Tokyo was almost like a L.A. Day. David and his coworkers wanted Sushi yesterday. So I joined them to go at Tsukiji. We went looking for one of the true Sushi joints at Tsukiji. It was a bit of a search to find them. Luckily David's 2 other coworkers were Japanese. They lead the way, and true sushi nirvana was found. The first 2 Sushi bars had lines that looked like it would take 2hrs to get in. We decided to go to one that still had room for us. It was excellent and even better than the Sushi restaurant I had in the main market. We had the sushi chef make us "Toro Set". It wasnt on the menu, but I just asked for all Toro.. I think what I had on my plate would cost about 60-70 bucks in LA.. Toro is cheap here. Its about 3-4 bucks a piece. They have Albacore and Salmon Toro here too.. Seared Toro is awesome..

David decided he still wanted more fish. So he wanted to find a fish stall that would slice him fresh fish and put it in a bowl. I think he spent 30 bucks on a large slab(about 10 in long, 1 1/2 inch thick) of chu-toro(Not quite as fatty as high quality toro, but not as lean as red maguro..) He let us have a "slice" and it was excellent.. I also had an eel-sickle(What I called eel on a stick) for only a 100 yen(little less than a buck) at one of the stalls in the main market..

Afterwards I returned to my hotel to get my bags, and take the Shinkansen to Kyoto...