March 13, 2005
Afternoon train to Kyoto
We took the train from Osaka northeast to Kyoto today where we'll stay for three days. Everywhere has been cold and windy, but Kyoto also has snow flurries. The little snapshot photo I took in no way does this gigantic train station justice. It's huge and architecturally magnificent.
Osaka was just a convenience destination. Arriving here instead of Tokyo eliminated some back-tracking. From my limited observations it seemed like mostly a commercial/industrial city without a whole lot else.
Osaka is famous for Okonomiyaki, so last night Ling and I had a huge meal of three excellent Okonomiyaki at a restaurant named Chibo. The best one had kimchee as one of the ingredients.
We spent the afternoon doing our favorite Japanese sport -- eating things in the 10-storey tall Isetan department store's massive food court. Japan rules the world of mashed potato croquettes. Ling loves their strawberries so while she was drinking a fresh strawberry smoothy, I had one made of blended spinach and lemon. I figured that compensated for all deep fried rubbish I ate.
What's on the agenda? We're in Kyoto till Wednesday. On Monday we'll spend most of the day with the folks from the Fujita Folding Kayak company south of Kyoto. I'll be picking up my brand new Fujita 480 folding kayak, taking a tour of the factory, as well as get some orientation training in a nearby lake. (And no, it suddenly doesn't jump from 30F to 85F if I go south one hour by train) Ling is looking through the guide books now planning for this evening and Tuesday's activities. On wednesday we'll take an hour long Shinkansen ride to Tokyo. I'm hoping to fit in a visit to an onsen.
Any recommendations on things to see/do, or more importantly, good stuff to eat? I get the impression Kyoto is known mostly for kaiseki cuisine, which we're not huge fans of. Anything else to look for?
Posted by Nils Blutig at March 13, 2005 03:36 PM | TrackBack