Going, Going, Gion! (7/16/10 & 7/17/10)

The Gion Matsuri is a month-long festival that takes place in Kyoto each year, and we were able to get a glimpse of it on Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th. There were a lot of vendors selling a variety of foods and a lot of impressive floats in Saturday's parade. Of course, there were also a ton of people walking around, so it was very crowded.

July 16th, 2010: In order to spend a decent amount of time at the festival, we left the lab at the university much earlier than usual. When we got to Kyoto it was starting to rain, but luckily we all brought our umbrellas (the big 525 Yen one I bought at the university store really came in handy). Near the exit of the train station we could see a lot of people and one of the lantern-covered floats. We walked around a bit and came across a street that was lined with many types of vendors. They were selling things like candy apples, children's masks, and shaved ice and some of them were (obviously rigged) lotteries to win video games and systems. After taking a short break to decide what to do, we continued down the decorated streets towards another one of the floats. What we didn't know what that people were crowding the street to line up to look inside the float, and we were stuck in a mass of people for quite a while. It was quite uncomfortable and not the best start to the trip, and it made New York City during Christmas time seem like an empty parking lot.

We escaped the packed street and took a turn down one a street that was part of the Teramachi-dori shopping plaza. There were also crowds of people here, but they kept moving for the most part. This street consisted of many storefronts, most of which were selling fresh fish and other related foods. There were some general convenience stores and souvenir shops, too. This street stretched on for a bit, and intersected another wider one with different shops. There was a lot more variety on this street; there was a coffee shop, t-shirt store, clothing store, and even an arcade (that we didn't find until the next day). Some of us went to check out the crane-game arcades, but they didn't have any regular arcade games. The second floor of one of them had a few music games, but they were in a tiny, dimly-lit room.

At the end of our walk through the shopping area, we came out near a busy street and wanted to look for a place to have dinner. There were several places along the street and we ended up stopping in a place called Yayoiken. In this restaurant, you order your food from a vending machine: you put in your money, select a menu item, and the machine gives you a ticket. When you are seated, you give the ticket to the waitress/waiter and they bring out your food when it's ready. Everyone else got the steak meal that was advertised out front, and I ordered a plate with two hamburger patties, two small hot dogs, and a piece of fried chicken over onions and bean sprouts with a tasty sauce. All of the meals came with soup, a cabbage salad, and rice and everything was delicious.

After dinner we made our way back to the streets we traversed before and found a long, wide street with lots of vendors on it. All of the stands were lit up, and there were many duplicate stands (in case you missed the first one you saw). This street was pretty crowded, but not as bad as the ones earlier in the day. Some of us stopped to get snacks, and I got cotton candy and melon shaved ice on our walk down the street. The lantern floats that we saw before were now lit up, too. Since it was getting late, we made our way back to the train station and went home.

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July 17, 2010: We got up nice and early to catch the parade, and we managed to see some of the floats up close. There were lots of people crowded at the edge of the side walk but we managed to get close enough to take some nice pictures. Two types of floats were displayed at the parade: small ones with famous people on top and a bunch of dressed-up marchers around them, and huge floats with giant wheels and tall tops being pulled by many people. The people in the large floats rang bells and chanted, while the men on the front waved fans around and shouted when the float moved forward. It was an interesting sight and was pretty impressive to see the big floats being turned at street intersections (flattened bamboo is put under the big wheels and the many people tugging work together to make the float move).

The parade lasted for quite a while, but after taking a bunch of pictures we ended up back on the same street in the Teramachi shopping area that we visited the day before. It seemed a little more crowded than before, but the lines of people kept moving. We passed some places we didn't see before, like a KFC, and we had lunch at the First Kitchen. I got a cheese, bacon, egg burger again with cheese fries and melon soda this time. Initially it was only four of us who made the second trip to Kyoto, but we met up with another after some walking around in the same direction and not meeting each other. We ended up walking out of the shopping area and back in, passing the arcade that we were going to be looking for later.

When we were all met up, we found our way back to the arcade that we thought was just a pachinko parlor. There were actually two floors of arcade games above the pachinko area, mostly filled with fighting games like Street Fighter IV and Tekken 6. There was even a small cafe area that was obviously geared towards the anime-girl-loving Japanese gamer types. I didn't play any games, but Paul played against a Japanese player in the game BlazBlue and was completely demolished. Judging by what I've seen in Japanese players, I can agree that they are much better at video games than we in the US are.

We proceeded down a road that we visited on our first trip to Kyoto to a shrine were there was supposed to be an event at 4:00PM. There were not that many people initially so we were able to get a spot on the curb, but more and more people eventually started filling in. Once again, we encountered the UCSD students, who walked by and said hi. After a while we met up with Khoa and Ken, another WPI student who lives in Japan. Soon afterwards, there was an announcement from the nearby police saying that the event was delayed until 6:00PM. It was already almost 5:00PM at that time, so we decided to head back home. There were two processions of people that went up to the shrine while we were there, but we didn't get to see the main event. Fortunately, we did get to see the parade and had a good time overall.

(Check out all the pictures from the Gion Festival here!)

Aqua Ring of Life (7/11/10)

July 11th, 2010: On a rainy Sunday there's nothing better than going someplace that's indoor. Especially if that place is the Kaiyukan Aquarium in Osaka City. The aquarium hosts many creatures from around the Ring of Fire (or more accurately, the Ring of Life), from Japan, Antarctica, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Pacific Ocean in general. Although many types of fish and other aquatic life make up the majority of the exhibits at the aquarium, there are a few mammals that live there. Overall, there was a lot to see on the 6 floors of exhibits and I really enjoyed it (I stayed behind to take pictures and ended the day with close to 300 of them).

We took the train from Sakurai station as usual and got to the aquarium area around 2:30PM. The area around the aquarium has a food court, a sketchy arcade, and one of the world's largest ferris wheels. We had a late lunch at the food court before entering the aquarium, and I got a double bacon, egg, and cheese burger from First Kitchen (it tasted just as good as the one we went to a few weeks ago). When we finished eating, we walked over to the aquarium and bought our 2,000 Yen admission tickets at the ticket vending machine.

The intended path for visiting the aquarium starts on the 3rd floor. There is a "tunnel tank" with a few types of fish that arches over the path, and then there is an escalator that takes visitors up to the 8th floor of the building. From there, the path is almost a spiral ramp down the building and around the main center tank in the middle of the aquarium. Rather than write about walking around the aquarium, I'll post a couple photos and some captions of what we saw organized into the floors they were on.

3F:
The tunnel tank with creatures swimming around.
Some type of ray.
A large starfish with very long limbs.
A hammerhead shark perhaps?

8F:
Animals from Japanese forests, I assume.
Little sea otters. They were moving around too fast to get good pictures of them. It seemed like they were doing something specific, because they were running back and forth, from the cave to into the water.
There were a couple in a little group on some rocks.
Some type of fish in the forest area.

7F:
A fairly large bird. There were some ducks in the same area, but there was only one of these.
Another type of otter washing his face. He's green because of the lighting (I didn't find the light correction option on my camera until afterwards).
Huge arapaima. There were several of them in the tank, and they were literally twice the size of that little girl.
A capybara! There were two in this area, but both were just sort of hanging out.
This penguin was washing his back or something, but he was really close to the glass. There were a bunch more on the other side of the tank. There were also two newly hatched penguins across the way from this tank.
There were a lot of dolphins swimming around, including a baby with its parent. The workers there came out to feed them as I was walking by and the dolphins were doing tricks (see the two videos here and here).

6F:
This lobster was extremely creepy. I believe that thing in his mouth is another fish from the tank!
Lots of different kinds of fish. All their eyes are glowing because the flash went off for this picture.
The main attraction of the aquarium, the whale shark. There were a couple in the tank, and it seemed like a lot of fish liked to follow them around. The shark acts as the mascot for the aquarium, and the gift shop has a lot of different sized plush toys of it.
One of the rays swimming around. It is pretty big, and it has a passenger on it's back.

5F:
A curious sea lion. This one stopped to look at some of the visitors, and later it stopped when one of the aquarium workers got its attention. It proceeded to follow her around when she walked back and forth.
A Napoleonfish resting on the tank floor. It doesn't look to happy.
A school of small fish.
A large sea turtle. It seemed like it was looking at the visitors.
One ugly fish. I was just floating there, looking extremely unhappy.
An ocean sunfish. It's a pretty neat looking fish.
Giant spider crabs. Pretty creepy; I wouldn't want to run into one of these in a back alley.

4F (and on):
A bunch of tiny jellyfish. This is one of the photos that actually came out well.
A pretty sweet jellyfish. I think this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.
Another, different type of jellyfish.
It's hard to see, but this is a clione, or sea butterfly. They are really tiny but really pretty, like little ocean angels.
More jellyfish. I don't know if that's my silhouette in the back or someone else's behind me.
This jellyfish was stuck to the side of the glass, along with the others in the tank.
A group of jellyfish.
I'm not sure what this is, but it's possibly a type of crawfish.
Lots of clownfish swimming around.

And, no trip in Japan would be complete without a little bit of Engrish and delicious snacks:
I don't even know what it's trying to tell me.
Ice cream wrapped in kid's cone-type food with chocolate!

(Check out all of the aquarium pictures here and here!)

(Next time, we take our second trip to Kyoto for the Gion Festival: "Going, Going, Gion!")

Back to the Past (7/3/10, 7/4/10)

July 3rd, 2010: Since we missed out on going to the Osaka Museum of History last weekend we decided to go earlier in the day this weekend to check it out. Although we planned on leaving early and checking out the Umeda Sky Building after lunch, we didn't end up leaving the house until about lunch time. We took the same train route to the museum as we did last week and were able to get a student discount using our ISIC cards (¥400 instead of ¥600).

In order to view the museum in the intended manner, you first take an elevator to the 10th floor and make your way down the building. The museum itself only occupies the 7th to the 10th floors, with some of the lower floors reserved for special exhibits. We were able to view the museum in its entirety in about two hours, taking lots of pictures along the way. Although I couldn't read most of the descriptions of what was showcased, I enjoyed the miniature buildings and towns and the view of Osaka Castle from the corner windows of the museum.

By the time we left the museum and got back to Umeda, it was already 4:30PM and very rainy. We decided to find our way to the Sky Building some other time when it was earlier in the day and not raining. From Umeda, Jared I., Paul, and I decided to stop at Ishibashi and get McDonald's for dinner. It was my first American meal since I've been in the country and it was delicious! I got a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, fries, and a Coke and it filled me up for the rest of the night. It tasted exactly the same as an American McDonald's (not surprisingly) but looked much better.

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July 4th, 2010: For our first major sightseeing trip, we traveled to Kyoto for a whole day. We left at around 8:15AM and took the train(s) to Kyoto (about an hour of travel time). Once there, we walked down a busy city street, stopping by a small store to pick up snacks. After crossing a bridge over a river, we walked through a small side street of traditionally decorated Japanese buildings. At the end of the street we emerged at a somewhat sketchy looking area of town but it was fairly empty, probably due to the fact that it was still pretty early in the morning. We walked down the streets for quite a bit, not really knowing where we were going or where Khoa was taking us because there wasn't anything particularly historic about where we were. Eventually we followed a street to the top of a hill and were greeted by a large temple! Finally, our sightseeing could begin!

Past the gates of the temple was a large set of stairs that led to an area of even more temples and shrines. There was one big temple where some sort of ritual with chanting and percussion was going on, and several paths to smaller shrines and a graveyard. We first walked over a small footbridge that was over a pond with many lily pads and some large fish, possibly carp, at the surface of the water. This path led to a small wooded area with a shrine, a small stream, and a tall monolith. After observing this area, we decided to take a look inside the large temple in the center that was emitting the sounds of a traditional type of worship. The signs outside the temple informed us that we had to take off our shoes, and that there were no pictures allowed inside. We sat down on the tatami floor and listened to the men in robes chant, hum, and perform this traditional service. It was a rather relaxing experience, although I had no idea what was going on. When we were done inside the temple, we exited the building and started for another large set of stairs to the side of the temple.

At the top of the set of stairs there were three paths that led to several more temples. Unfortunately, the paths in front of us and to the right of us were off-limits, so we took the left path, the only path we could, to see what we could see. This path led to a small area with a traditional hand-washing area, a bell, and two more paths! The first path we took was the one directly in front of us, which brought us to a large area that was completely filled with graves, or merely stones that represented those that have passed away (I'm still not sure if there were actually people buried there since the graves were so close together). We wandered around and took a bunch of pictures, and then walked up the second path. This set of stairs led to another building where a man was working something or performing some traditional form of worship. We only stopped for a second to take a look, and then descended the large set of stairs we entered from back to the main temple area. Everything we saw was weathered by time; the steps and stones were worn with moss growing on them, the metal bells and fountains were rusted and dull, and the engraving on the graves was faded.

Having seen mostly everything that this area had to offer, we descended a second set of stairs back to the main entrance of the temple-filled area. Taking a small road off to the side of where we started led us to a park area that was filled with trees, a large pond, and many many pigeons. We stopped by a small food stand to get snacks; some of use purchased hot dogs from the American-type food stand and some of us bought crepes next door. I got a strawberry cheesecake crepe that was very delicious, although not very filling. I would have followed it up with a hot dog, but I decided to become friends with the pigeons instead. From a distance, you could see the pigeons congregating around people who were tossing food to them, and they even jumped up onto the rocks besides the people who were feeding them and on the people themselves! I couldn't pass up an offer to feed the local fowl, so I took out a bag of Cheeze-Itz that I had since before the plane ride to Japan, sat down on one of the stone blocks, and began dropping crumbs for the birds. At first only a few came by, but soon they were standing next to me and even jumping on my lap. When I was done, I walked over to where everyone else was, casually tossing pieces onto the floor to the group of pigeons that were on the ground. Then, out of nowhere, three of them flew up and landed on my arms! I wasn't the only one who was taken by surprise, and the people passing by seemed to enjoy it. I was able to take one picture of one on my arm, and I believe someone else in the group got one of all the birds on me.

We walked down another path that was decorated with ancient looking buildings, and we were brought to another area with more temples that looked different from the ones we had seen before. These temples were bright orange and looked as if they were recently renovated. There were also many paper lanterns hanging around the temples, including two large ones where we exited. Afterwards we climbed yet another set of steps to a fairly busy summit that was filled with many stalks of bamboo with wish tags on them. Making our way to a less congested area, which ended up being a parking lot, we could see the great view that was provided by our high altitude. Behind us was a gigantic statue in a memorial area which I later learned was a statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara at the Ryozen Kannon. We took a bunch of pictures in this area, and then we headed down to a crowded market street.

Although we visited this street later, we initially just walked through to get to another area with some small temples and the biggest one we'd seen all day. This temple was called Kiyomizudera (Pure water temple). Again, most of the small temples looked newer than the first ones, but they were still quite impressive. We paid ¥400 to get into the temple, which led to even more sights past the initial temple. From the big temple we had another amazing view of the skyline, which included lots of trees, buildings, and mountains in the distance. Moving along, up a set of stairs, led us to a crowded area with a traditionally-dressed man talking to the crowd. There were many stands selling good luck charms, and there were two large stones some distance apart called "The Famous Love Stone(s)". A sign near the second stone said that if you were able to walk from one to the other successfully with your eyes closed, your love wish will be granted soon. I obviously did not need to perform this action, but some guy bumped into me before I learned of this challenge and I wasn't sure why (I'm not sure if he was actually successful, though).

Continuing on, we walked through another path that was surrounded by lots of beautiful foliage and another view of the previous skyline. There were some places to eat along the way, but we didn't stop at any of them. The path we were on made sort of an elongated U-turn that went down to an area much lower than the large temple where we entered. At the end of our path, and at an intersection that led back to the temple, was Otowanotaki Spring, a small fountain-temple and the main attraction of Kiyomizudera, with a large line of people in front of it. At the fountain you can walk up under the roof that the water runs off from and wash your hands and/or take a drink for good luck. Visitors are provided long metal ladles to catch the water and can also purchase a "holy cup" to put in the ladle and keep as a souvenir. The line was deceptively long; the wait was very short and we all took our turn at the fountain. The water was nice and cold, and very pure (just as advertised).

Returning to the market street on which we accessed the temple, we walked back down in the general direction of the restaurant where we would eat dinner. Since it was early, we stopped by a small restaurant and ordered appetizers. I got a melon shaved ice, which is probably the most delicious melon-flavored item I have eaten so far. When we were done, we traveled back to the very start of our trip and walked down another somewhat "dirty" street towards the restaurant. This street wasn't sketchy like the first streets we traveled down, but was populated by some not-so-child-friendly establishments. We didn't investigate these places any further than reading the signs, but doing just that provided some entertainment. The restaurant we ate at was in this area; it was an all-you-can-eat (in 90 minutes) yakiniku place that cost about $20 per person. A grill is installed in the table and customers order raw meat to cook and eat. We decided to order beef items, which included many delicious pieces and some interesting ones (like tongue and heart). No one but Khoa wanted to eat the tongue, and I actually tried a piece of heart (cow heart, not this kind). Everything I ate was very good; the heart was okay once I tried not thinking about what I was eating. I finished my meal with two dishes of plain soft cream (vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles) and then we made the journey back home.

Overall, the trip to Kyoto was very enjoyable. It was dirtier (in many regards) than Osaka, but the historic sights were great. We will be going back soon to check out the Gion Festival, so stay tuned for a bunch of photos and a blog post later this month!

(Check out all 560+ photos of the weekend here, here, here, and here!)