Kyoto, Osaka e Nara

The Shinkansen fast speed train is amazing. Within 2 hours of leaving Hakone, we arrived at Kyoto - the traditional homeland of kimonos and geishas. Of all the Japanese cities, we were most enamoured with Kyoto (L hopes to move here in future) as it was a beautiful blend of old school and modern conveniences. I think we are also both old souls who must have lived in Kyoto before. The grand city is best explored on bicycle (cheap rental rates and flat wide roads) or by public transport. We spent a whole day riding our elegant bikes all over town - and got lost a couple of times, poking our heads into quaint UNESCO heritage decorated temples and shrines, and on my part, hoping to catch a glimpse of koyo (the changing of seasons where the maple tree leaves turn a deep shade of red).

Be warned; Kyoto cannot be explored entirely in 1 day, nope not even 3 days as we found out. (I wondered how some friends only set aside 1 day trip in Kyoto, such a shame, cannot lah). Just Gion alone is worth a day and night to investigate. The renowned geisha zone was a hotbed of tourists as everyone is on the hunt for geishas which are more easily spotted in the evening (we laughed at a bunch of American students who were beseeching the Jap policemen in slow, loud English and in broad daylight "wheeereee can we seeee the Geeei-shas?").

In the day, it's best to take a stroll across the Kamo river and spent some time at the traditional teahouses sipping on fragrant green tea and chowing down on macha mochi with azuki beans. At night, while searching for a decent ramen joint, we tried to peep into the private KTV clubs and kaiseki restaurants manned by sharp-looking bouncers in black. Very often, some burly drunken Jappy businessmen would roll out with 2 perfectly coiffed Japanese ladies (some in modern dresses, mostly in ornate kimonos). Are they high class escorts or modern geishas? It's totally fascinating to second guess what goes on behind the screens.

Can you see from this picture - why did the geisha cross the road?
To get away from the shutter-mad crowd!

After Kyoto, we spent a night at the ancient imperial city of Nara, which is incidentally celebrating its 1,300th anniversary. Woa-hor. My sis was in Japan around the same time as me for the Goddess' Golden Light trip and I can imagine the kind of ancient knowing energy they were tapping into. Nara is kinda sandwiched between Kyoto and Osaka so it can be easily visited on a day trip from either city. Famous for its deer park (where these sacred creatures are allowed to roam freely and terrorise people - ok I made it up), it is infamous for its mascot Sento-kun - a smiling Buddha boy with deer antlers - a controversy given the violent reaction when it was first unveiled. Even my Jap friend 'Yuka Maya' who was normally quite reserved and sweet made a face and said it is not kawaii neh. I thought it was rather cute, given that I like deers and Buddha. Strangely it also bore an unlikely resemblance to Luigi (both have kind blue eyes, compassionate aura and bald heads). We toured the tiny city's temples and pagodas on foot, and even saw Nara's oldest tree. Tourists also fed biscuits to the greedy deers (not me), which are not afraid to nudge and jostle you for food. I was thinking what'd happen to the roadkill? Sento sashimi? 

Post Nara, we can't wait for Osaka - Japan's hungriest city, where the 2 Yukos were already anticipating our visit. It was great to see them after 2 years since Perugia. Osaka's vibes are more toned down, casual and the city's easy to befriend as we walked from the main train station to our hotel in the throbbing Dotonburi district - the very heartbeat of Osaka where people-watching is entertainment indeed. Every lane is filled with cafes, eateries and shops - it seemed that no one really sleeps nor stops eating here. Street food is at its best and cheapest at Osaka, with affordable fast food inventions like L's favourite takoyaki balls and sizzling okomomiyaki pancakes sold at every corner. We also walked into a couple of "love hotels" that were in our area and saw from the automated check-in panel that they have large thematic kinky rooms. Hilarious. I even spotted a porn DVD vending machine on our walkabout!  

On the 2nd night, Yuko1 insisted we stayed at her family home at Kitano, a sleepy cosy town smacked between the bermuda triangle of Nara, Osaka and Kyoto. Perhaps this was her attempt at returning the favour (when she last slept over at Pozzuoli) but hey, we won't say not to Japanese hospitality. Her folks were supremely charming and open, and our exchange was almost comedic as the Yukos translated our Italian conversations to Japanese and comedic English. It was her brother's birthday and (funnily) at our request, her parents had organised a takoyaki party in honour of us (L was over the moon). Takoyaki is the steamboat equivalent here - almost every household has a takoyaki pot and recipe. Needless to say, we had a ball of a time (pun intended haha) as we churned out plates after plates of tako stuffed with octopus bits and cheese, washed down with Japanese birra. The temperature dipped and was chilly but we slept snugly in their family tatami room. Arrigato, amici! 

Luigi's perfectly cooked tako balls - bravo!