Bumming around in Kyoto.
Spent most of the day doing absolutely nothing in Kyoto, which was kind of cool but involved a lot of walking.
So I met up with Ashton to see if we can get tickets to the Miyako Odori, the geisha's spring dance, but we got there so late (couldn't find the damn place!!) that all tickets were already sold out and we couldn't get tickets for tomorrow (darn it, sort of like sumo with day-of-only sales). I decided that I didn't want to see geisha dancing enough to go back to Kyoto at like 8am tomorrow to make sure I got a ticket when the ticket office opened at 10. So pass. I put forth a paltry effort and it wasn't good enough. Oh well.
We ended up grabbing some ramen for lunch and just meandering around randomly in Gion Shijo. Apparently "randomly" led us to Heian Jingu which has that huuuuge red torii gate in front. We thought about going to one of the random museums beside it but ended up at the Kyoto zoo which made both of us almost burst out into tears because the conditions at that zoo were so bad for so many animals. Imagine having lions, tigers, and jaguars in cages far smaller than most Western bathrooms! They were large enough for each animal to lie down and pace back and forth in - barely - and that's it. It was just so incredibly depressing!!! I will never ever go to a zoo in Japan again because it seems like Japanese people think that this is "OK" but it's just atrocious!!
Leaving the zoo rather quickly we made our way to the shrine, snapped a couple of photos, and then made our way back to the shopping area of Shijo where we both bought random flavors of Kyoto specialty yatsuhashi such as banana chocolate, strawberry, sakura, and black sesame.
After that our feet hurt and we were tired so we hopped on a train back to Osaka where Ashton's mother and uncle were waiting at her apartment (they're in town for the week sightseeing). We grabbed some delicious Indian food for dinner and went looking for a bar to hang out at but they were all closed for the holiday so we went to the nearest conbini store and bought bottles of chu-hi and beer and just sat outside the store talking. It was rather nice.
And now I am back home and rather sleepy. It was a long day. Tomorrow should be a lot more laid-back. I've got my yoga class in the afternoon and nothing else that day. Wheeeeee. R&R sounds like it's in order!!
So I met up with Ashton to see if we can get tickets to the Miyako Odori, the geisha's spring dance, but we got there so late (couldn't find the damn place!!) that all tickets were already sold out and we couldn't get tickets for tomorrow (darn it, sort of like sumo with day-of-only sales). I decided that I didn't want to see geisha dancing enough to go back to Kyoto at like 8am tomorrow to make sure I got a ticket when the ticket office opened at 10. So pass. I put forth a paltry effort and it wasn't good enough. Oh well.
We ended up grabbing some ramen for lunch and just meandering around randomly in Gion Shijo. Apparently "randomly" led us to Heian Jingu which has that huuuuge red torii gate in front. We thought about going to one of the random museums beside it but ended up at the Kyoto zoo which made both of us almost burst out into tears because the conditions at that zoo were so bad for so many animals. Imagine having lions, tigers, and jaguars in cages far smaller than most Western bathrooms! They were large enough for each animal to lie down and pace back and forth in - barely - and that's it. It was just so incredibly depressing!!! I will never ever go to a zoo in Japan again because it seems like Japanese people think that this is "OK" but it's just atrocious!!
Leaving the zoo rather quickly we made our way to the shrine, snapped a couple of photos, and then made our way back to the shopping area of Shijo where we both bought random flavors of Kyoto specialty yatsuhashi such as banana chocolate, strawberry, sakura, and black sesame.
After that our feet hurt and we were tired so we hopped on a train back to Osaka where Ashton's mother and uncle were waiting at her apartment (they're in town for the week sightseeing). We grabbed some delicious Indian food for dinner and went looking for a bar to hang out at but they were all closed for the holiday so we went to the nearest conbini store and bought bottles of chu-hi and beer and just sat outside the store talking. It was rather nice.
And now I am back home and rather sleepy. It was a long day. Tomorrow should be a lot more laid-back. I've got my yoga class in the afternoon and nothing else that day. Wheeeeee. R&R sounds like it's in order!!