OKAY! I'm finally done with the trip that I went on more than a year and a half ago.
These pictures are rather bittersweet. My roommate and I were joined by another teacher for Kyoto, and we spent the day exploring with her. Then we went back to China on Friday, while she stayed on until Sunday. Then, the Monday that school was meant to start again, we all got a terse message telling us to be at an urgent meeting before school started. We all went there, saw several others in tears, and soon learned that the teacher who had joined us had had a stroke just hours after she got back from Japan. She had lost all ability to walk. We haven't seen her since.
But we
do know that she's back in the States, is healthy, and is walking again! This post is dedicated to you, Janae. :)
I should mention, I'm not wild about big cities, but I don't mind medium-sized cities. Shenyang is a nice balance--it's easily the biggest city I've ever lived in (more than 8 million people!), but it is also so sprawling and spread out that it just doesn't feel that big. Kyoto is a bit similar. It is technically a big city, but I just didn't get that feeling when I was there. I barely saw any skyscrapers, there were very few chain restaurants, and the place overall was just a bit quieter than Tokyo. Kyoto is probably my favorite Japanese city. (I do need to revisit Nara, though...)
Anyway, these pictures are just from wandering around Kyoto and enjoying it.
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| Ah, mountains. |
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| Manners mode! :) |
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| This made me smile for obvious reasons. We didn't buy anything from here (I think it was closed), but it was heartwarming. |
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| Also heartwarming. |
Now, the next pictures are from something that I insisted on doing. It was not met with the enthusiasm from the other two that I was expecting, but c'est la vie.
One thing that we just do not have in the States (because of animal rights activists, I think) are animal cafes. There are cat cafes, where you go get some coffee and hang out with the cats, but that's about it. However, in east Asia, the rules are far more lax. They have cafes where all you do is go and hang out with some very exotic animals.
There was one such place in Kyoto, and it was divided into two different cafes for two different animals.
First, when we entered, we needed to take off our shoes and put on slippers:
Then, once we wore the appropriate footgear, we got to meet the animals!
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| They were Bengal cats! |
After playing with the kitties, we went upstairs to the second cafe, and this is the kind of animal cafe that Japan is famous for: Owl Cafes!
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| Soren from Guardians of Ga'Hoole! |
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| Hedwig! |
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| It's Twilight from Guardians of Ga'Hoole! |
Anyway, after we saw the animals, we had to get dinner somewhere. There were a few restaurants at the end of the road, so we wandered in that direction. There was one that had a black wall, black door, and no obvious lights, so we were a bit curious. We knocked, and out stepped... a Ninja!
We had stumbled across the Ninja Restaurant, which also has locations in Tokyo and New York City!
That actually may have been the coolest themed restaurant I've ever been in. The tables were in little alcoves that look like caves, the wait staff were all dressed up like ninjas, there were secret codes, and lots of other fun things. Unfortunately, when I tried to go back in 2019, it had closed.
Anyway, one of the nice things about Japan is that there is still a lot happening outside after it gets dark, and we weren't tired, so we decided to walk around and look at the shops. I didn't take too many pictures, but there are two that really stood out to me in my memory.
First, of a nice Kyoto street:
Obviously it's a pedestrian street, and it looks a lot like the popular streets in Kyoto. The signs are bright, the stores look welcoming, and it feels safe and friendly.
Secondly, see the white paper lightning? I think I mentioned it before, but in case I didn't--summers with a lot of lightning produce good rice crops, so lightning is a sign of prosperity.
Then, of a street temple:
This mix of old and new made me smile. In the background, you have the tall building, but in the foreground, it's a temple of some kind (I can't tell the difference between Shinto and Buddhist).
Anyway, that was my first trip to Japan. Definitely worth the time, and extremely convenient. I did go a second time, and (assuming the borders all reopen before October break), I will definitely go again.
