Kyoto - Gion District

After the castle, we spent forever looking for food. We found a great spot online, but it was closed already, so we went with a second choice. That place ended up being closed when we walked there. We went to another place that was open, but the food was mediocre. Oh well, live and learn. We then went to Gion, the historic downtown part of Kyoto. You can read about it here We saw a street performer and some interesting buildings, but we were unable to go to the Kiyomizudera temple (check it out here). We walked that direction, but the temple was already closed for the day. It gets dark so early in Japan, so the sun was already down by the time we arrived near the temple. During the wintertime, there are illuminations at the temple, so there was a looong line of people waiting for tickets to get in.

Kyoto - Nijo Castle

Nijo Castle is another World Heritage site in Kyoto. You can read about it here. It was really cool! There is a lot to see as the property is quite large. We rode a bus from the Kinkakuji temple to the Nijo Castle. The bus was super crowded! We were warned about that, but there was literally NO ROOM left on that bus but people kept boarding. After being smooshed on the ride, it was nice to walk around the castle. You aren't supposed to take photos inside the castle.

Kyoto - Kinkakuji Temple

The Kinkakuji temple is also known as the Golden Pavilion. You can read about it here. The woman at the train station suggested taking a little tram from the bamboo forest area towards the Golden Pavilion. We saw a woman dressed as a geisha on our walk to the tram station. The Golden Pavilion is a quick stop on a sightseeing tour, since there isn't that much to see other than the outside of the Golden Pavilion building.

Kyoto - Tenryuji Temple

We walked to the Tenryuji temple. It is one of the World Heritage sites in Kyoto. You can read about it here. There is a trail on the side of the mountain, so you can overlook the lake and temple buildings. You can take your shoes off and tour one of the main buildings, but we didn't do that. We just ate some mochi while we sat outside. We brought the mochi with us, but there is a small restaurant at the temple. I don't know if it was vegetarian-friendly, so we didn't stop there. The leaves are turning colors this time of year, so there were tourists everywhere to get photos of the trees.

Kyoto - Bamboo forest

While my friend was here visiting, we made our first trip to Kyoto. We rode on the shinkansen (bullet train). My friend and I purchased Japan Rail Passes because we are tourists (she bought them because you can't buy one inside Japan). We didn't have a real sightseeing plan. We arrived at the train station and asked the info desk for suggestions. The woman working gave us a map and great to do list. We first went to the bamboo forest because my friend saw it on Google and the woman said it was pretty. In the area around the forest, there is a shrine and the Tenryuji temple. At first, we thought only the small shrine was in the area, so we were a little disappointed. Once we figured out where the Tenryuji temple was, we went there and were quite impressed.

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

I thought this was a modern art museum, but alas, it's not. There are no permanent exhibits at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. They only receive traveling exhibits and citizens' works. We saw the Japanese Print Society's anniversary collection. There were some really neat pieces, but the pieces should have been organized in a thematic way. There were nudes next to flowers next to cat drawings next to Japanese landscapes. Weird.

Sights at Ueno Park

Here are some photos from the Ueno park area. We came upon a group of people dancing in traditional Japanese clothing. They were performing a choreographed dance routine, but we couldn't figure out why.

Ueno Daibatsu's Remains

We stopped to check out a little shrine at the top of some stairs. I didn't see any signs indicating what it was, but the internet says it's Ueno Daibatsu's remains. I haven't seen a giant head like this anywhere else, so it was neat.

Kiyozumi Kannon-Do Temple

I took my friend to see Ueno Park. We checked out the shrines and temples contained within the park before checking out an art gallery. The first place we stopped was Kiyozumi Kannon-Do Temple. This temple was once located in Kyoto, but was moved in 1694 to Tokyo.

Expat Vegan Thanksgiving

Sorry for the gap in posts. My friend came to visit us the week of Thanksgiving. In the last week, I spent a lot of time trying to look at job materials online. My tourist visa is almost expired, so I really should find a job that will offer me a visa. Here are a few photos from my friend's visit to get things rollin' again here. :)

We're still alive!

Sorry for the gap in posts. My friend came to visit us the week of Thanksgiving. In the last week, I spent a lot of time trying to look at job materials online. My tourist visa is almost expired, so I really should find a job that will offer me a visa. Here are a few photos from my friend's visit to get things rollin' again here. :)

Did we discover a cat cafe?

We saw this sign in Shinjuku. We should investigate this. I think it's a cafe where you pay to play with cats. My friend told me she went to a place like this when she was in Japan, and my mom saw one featured on a Sunday morning talk show. Themed restaurants are popular in Tokyo. My only concern is how the cats are cared for after business hours. They help the business make a profit, so they are being commodified. Making animals into commodities typically runs against vegan values, but I'd love to play with kitties since we are pet-free in our apartment.

Vegan Yogurt in Japan

The dude is a big yogurt eater. Finding dairy yogurt is so easy. However, for me, finding vegan yogurt has been tricky. After some Google-ing, I found a blog post stating Lima Macrobiotic cafe/grocery carries soy yogurt. I went to Shinjuku on a quest! The cashier told me that the plain yogurt in the square container is vegan, but the flavored ones in round containers have gelatin. They also had vegan ice cream (the rice milk ice cream we've tried before) and sorbet!

Tim Burton Exhibit

I went to the Tim Burton exhibit at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills. The dude was at work, so I went during the day by myself. I saw another Tim Burton exhibit in LA several years ago. I like the way he mixes darker themes with his signature quirky style. It was so crowded! I thought I'd avoid a crowd by going mid-afternoon on a weekday, but nope! You can't take any photos inside the exhibit, but I saw a couple dressed in steampunk style. (Steampunk is the concept of today's technology being run on steam power, so the clothing is inspired by the early 18th century.) I'm pretty sure one of the people was a woman with a fake mustache. #onlyinjapan

Tsukiji Market - Ginza, Tokyo, Japan

We recently had dinner with an acquaintance from Houston. Her friends told us that we could find dried beans at the Tsukiji Market in Ginza. That was why we went to Ginza. There were a couple booths marked on the market map as selling dried beans, grains, etc. We found one of those booths was open for business. We bought white beans, red kidney beans, and chickpeas. A can of beans is almost $3 here, so buying these dried beans should save us half. I tried to cook the white beans in my Crockpot, but it doesn't heat up here. The electrical currents are different here, but I will use the stovetop method to cook the beans. The market mostly sells fish, but there is a wholesale fruit/veg area during the week. The wholesale areas are closed on Sundays, so we missed out on the wholesale fruit/veg area.