Nov 8 - last days in Kyoto

We had a kaiseki dinner at Shiraume on one of the last evenings...
 According to wikipedia, or modern day brittanica:
" kaiseki is a type of art form that balances the taste, texture, appearance, and colors of food.^[4] To this end, only fresh seasonal ingredients are used and are prepared in ways that aim to enhance their flavor. Local ingredients are often included as well.^[6] Finished dishes are carefully presented on plates that are chosen to enhance both the appearance and the seasonal theme of the meal. Dishes are beautifully arranged and garnished, often with real leaves and flowers, as well as edible garnishes designed to resemble natural plants and animals. "

We had all this and more....








We decided to dress for the occasion in our antique silk kimono jackets which we had acquired in a shop that deals in retired geiko kimonos...

Our dinner had 10 courses (at least)...five chefs worked all day in the kitchen to prepare...a large part is presentation and since November is the month of the maple leaf, many dishes had tiny maple leaves carved out of carrots ...

 Tomoko is explaining each part of the dish...












...note the seaweed basket on the right of the tray...it is handmade for the occasion...

....this course is tempura, and therefore definable...but many dishes were quite exotic: quails eggs, eel, and probably leg of frog and eye of newt....

I drew the line at blowfish....arigato (thank you)











The last night in Gion we went to a Viennese Cafe

 and had cheesecake...and were dismayed to hear there was "no more whooping cream"!  wakari nasen! (I don't understand....!)











 But on the way home we saw "our" stream in a new light...

..a

We took another photo tour around the neighbourhood on our last morning.....these houses with their geisha dormitories are now part of a historical district

..and we ended the morning, minutes before the taxi came to take us to the ariport, by watching the crane in the stream...

...followed shortly thereafter by Bibi, who jumped into the freezing water to reclaim some antique blue and white shards for me...

What an end to a fabulous trip!        Arigato gozaymas and matane! (Thanks a bunch and see ya!)

Nov 6 -Temples, gardens and fashion designers...

...will all make an appearance in this blog, so steel yourself!

First the temple: 40 minutes out of town to the area of Shinobi, driven by a white gloved taxi-chauffeur, brought us to an entirely different landscape...winding roads, villas nestled on the hillside, so much green... reminiscent of a mountain resort in Europe. Our urban driver got lost, but in true Japanese tradition, turned off the meter as soon as he noticed....

We walked along lush garden paths to the temple tucked away inside this greenery...no signage,no parking, no tourists, and because we were early, no Japanese....

The Nembutsu-ji temple at Adashino outside of Kyoto was founded around the year 800 and was a burial ground. There are 8000 buddha stones here, made as gravestones for the dead buried inthe Adashino area from 800- end of the Edo period in 1868. The temple is considered the spiritual home of religious people in Japan.




 Part of the temple complex was a bamboo forest...(not THE bamboo forest which is at the bottom of the mountain, but much nicer in my estimation)...

 ..and it was awesome, in the truest sense of the word.

We meandered down the mountain....well, hill...but to me and the Japanese a mountain....and the mostly pedestrian path was, as I said, reminiscent of a mountain resort...lots of little shops selling among other things, mobiles made of silk cocoons

AND

 ...the enjoyment of the day was ratcheted up a notch by meeting the designer of Anomaly Structure, a true renaissance man...

 He makes absolutely everything himself...from the design to the sewing to the buttons and belts...
so this was one part of the Japanese economy that needed to be supported..

Continuing on down the mountain...and at times we wished we had taken an alternative form of transportation, especially since we seemed to get lost and the way got longer.....

...and avoiding the ubiquitous vending machines that seem to pop up in the most unexpected places ...this one sells beer among other things!

we ended up in the gardens of Okochi Sanso, the private villa of the silent-film era actor Okochi Denjiro (1898-1962)

 Views of Arashiyama and Mount Hiel, as well as Kyoto, can be seen from this summer building

Maple leaves are almost in full colour....

 ...and a cherry tree, branches supported, is waiting for spring...

Nov 8 - No,no , no....

...I didn't want to leave you with the impression that our long trip ended with Bibi crying in her beer in Kyoto..on the contrary...

...we woke every morning laughing and ready to take on the world...

We’re staying in Gion, the historical part of Kyoto...

...here the stream and  bridge to our ryokan, (inn)

a side street  just down the road....

... the world of maikos and geikos, tea houses and cherry blossoms. This world, which I had thought extinct, is still very much alive, 

 

and on a walk in the early evening geikos can still be seen,

albeit surrounded by the clicking of countless cameras, as they are regarded almost as movie stars.

On a night walking tour through this world we learned something of its signs and symbols.

 Here the names of the maikos (geishas in training) who live in this dormitory...there are 200 geikos (Kyoto geishas) and 95 maikos currently in training.

On a different evening we had a bit of an introduction to some of the traditional art forms:

tea ceremony

 music

flower arranging....now, I would already have difficulties on my knees like that, never mjnd getting the flowers to lean at a 45 degree angle....

 old comic theatre

 ...and the traditional dance of a maiko....

But to me more fascinating than the traditions of yesteryear are the traditions of today: Japan is exceedingly clean…every morning shopkeepers in old Gion hose down their sidewalks; in our ryokan the entrance was hosed down 2 and 3 times a day. On Sunday we saw groups of people armed with bags and pincers, preceded by a flag-bearer, scouring the streets for stay bits of garbage. Most bags were empty.

Service is still written with a capital “S”…cab drivers in uniform with white gloves open the car door (when it is not opened magically by unseen hands electronically). 

Toilets…even in small restaurants…have heated seats, flushing noises, bidets…

 you need a course in how to operate the console...

Nov 4 - Gion

Like this,

               I miss Gion so much.

Even when I am lying at night,

                      I hear the sound of stream in Gion.  (Isamu Yoshii, poet who stayed at Shiraume)

I didn’t know that coming to Kyoto, to Gion, would be the fulfilment of a dream because I didn’t know I had this dream. Being here feels so comfortable, so right, that I have to wonder why I never wanted to go to Japan.

Here I am, sitting on the floor of our room, much like a Buddha. I have just displaced a ton of water in the cedar bath…enough for two small Japanese persons. I feel like Mrs. Gulliver. We have just finished a platter of sushi, enough for a family of four….squid, eel, salmon, shrimp and various unidentified swimming objects…it was Japanese take-out, from the restaurant down the street.

Our ryokan is directly on the Shirakawa stream- we have to cross a bridge to get to it- and takes its name from the shiraume, which means white plum flower and which blooms in early spring.

It was started in the late Edo period, 19^th century, as an ochaya or place where maiko lived together with a female manager and worked. After WWII it was reborn as the Siraume Ryokan.

 It still has a female manager, and we are beginning to feel, if not like geishas, definitely a bit Asian. When we arrived at the ryokan, and Bibi saw we could either eat or sleep in our room, she declared, “I mach nimmer mit!” (I don’t want to play anymore!)

We have gone for 36 hours without sleep, flew from Angkor Wat to Saigon, had 10 hours Saigon, then on to Tokyo. Arrival in Japan was with sunrise in the east

and Mt Fuji in the west.

We then took the 3 hour express train to Kyoto. Many black suits and unsmiling faces. It did not help that I lost one of the many train tickets we had received for this trip, and needed to replace it. Until we came here to Gion, most of Japan was beginning to look like the former East Germany, which I always experienced under similar grey skies. 

The sky was blue in Kyoto, which I took to be a positive omen.

Nov 2 Siem Reap

We did not spend all our time in temples...Siem Reap is a delightful town which is quickly growing into a metropolis  - from 8000 inhabitants ten years ago to 1 million today - which is providing many opportunities for astute investors, 80% from abroad. Building is going on a great pace, much is in a state of being unfinished....and almost everything is new. Luckily everything is being built in an architectual style that melds with the existing buildings.

 

Along the river, not 3 km out of town, rural life goes on:

...and times have not changed in the least....

In town it is a different story....charming restaurants where we had terrific meals for less than $15 for two...can you figure out this photo?

We also laughed for half and hour, thanks to Dr Fish and the fish spa....this a an Asian pedicure....

...and the monks are everywhere....

In 20 minutes we're off to the airport, back to Saigon, then on to Tokyo at midnight tonight....more from the land of the Rising Sun....