Day 5: We arose after a much-needed 10 hour sleep at Ryokan Nishiyama. Had another delicious meal at breakfast time - miso soup, grilled salmon, Japanese omelet, boiled tofu, more Kyoto pickled veggies, grapefruit and some oolong tea. Again, the little, expertly-prepared plates satiated us well into our secvnd day in gorgeous Tokyo.
We headed over to our new ryokan, Nissho Besso [http://www.nissho-besso.com/] , a couple of blocks away in the heart of a very trendy neighborhood - in NYC terms, a bit SoHo, a bit West Village. After dropping our bags, we trekked to the northwest part of town to Nijo Castle [http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/kyoto/nijo.html], the home of one of the most powerful shoguns in Japan (Tokugawa), whose rule lasted over 200 years, beginning around 1600. Nijo Castle is home to the most gorgeous paintings from the Kano School and beautiful gardens, which included an island called The Island of Eternal Happiness. We smiled at that name. The castle is in the process of restoring many of the paintings, and had a special 400th anniversary exhibition of the cherry blossom series - absolutely gorgeous. We enjoyed seeing some of the political and military history of Japan, after two days of spiritual and religious Japan.
After the castle and lots of sweating in the heat of the day, we came back to officially check in at Nissho Besso, have tea and relax before dinner. I toook a nap and Sean went to buy more minutes on our Japanese cell phone, discovering lots of bustling streets along the way.
We went to dinner on the very quaint, very narrow, Pontocho Alley. Dinner was pricey and only ok after being spoiled the previous day, but we enjoyed the view overlooking the Kamo River into Gion (of Memoirs of a Geisha fame).
After dinner, on to Club World where we had the NYC club hook-up and were guest-listed to here one of Japan's hottest house DJs, DJ Emma. The club was small, but the sound system was slamming! DJ Kiji opened up and got the crowd worked into a frenzy, by the time Emma took the stage around 1:30 am. It was some of the best club music we've heard in a long time. Expertly mixed, with a constant build of energy. Great lights, great video and laser displays. It was the total package - a fantastic show. Thanks Anthony Lamont in NYC and Akiko in Tokyo for setting us up. Our legs were SO sore today from dancing. (Sue's OCD commentary about the club - it was the CLEANEST club I have ever seen. I even sat on the floor at one point, and for those of you who know me ...) We were wishing our NYC friends were there to dance with us. (Ira, your head would have exploded!)
We walked home around 4:15 and the city was still bustling, with folks going home from the bars and others sleeping and peeing (yes, peeing) in full view on the street. We collapsed into our futons content and excited for our 3rd and final day in Kyoto.
xoxo, Sue and Sean
P.S. A word about the public transportation here - you can set your watch to it, and it's SO clean. In fact, today we saw a subway employee with a dust buster in the metro, sucking up we don't even know what, because it is so spotless. Great job, I am sure, with a great pension.
Japanese phrase of the day:
Shashin wo totte morae masu ka? - Will you take my picture?
We headed over to our new ryokan, Nissho Besso [http://www.nissho-besso.com/] , a couple of blocks away in the heart of a very trendy neighborhood - in NYC terms, a bit SoHo, a bit West Village. After dropping our bags, we trekked to the northwest part of town to Nijo Castle [http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/kyoto/nijo.html], the home of one of the most powerful shoguns in Japan (Tokugawa), whose rule lasted over 200 years, beginning around 1600. Nijo Castle is home to the most gorgeous paintings from the Kano School and beautiful gardens, which included an island called The Island of Eternal Happiness. We smiled at that name. The castle is in the process of restoring many of the paintings, and had a special 400th anniversary exhibition of the cherry blossom series - absolutely gorgeous. We enjoyed seeing some of the political and military history of Japan, after two days of spiritual and religious Japan.
After the castle and lots of sweating in the heat of the day, we came back to officially check in at Nissho Besso, have tea and relax before dinner. I toook a nap and Sean went to buy more minutes on our Japanese cell phone, discovering lots of bustling streets along the way.
We went to dinner on the very quaint, very narrow, Pontocho Alley. Dinner was pricey and only ok after being spoiled the previous day, but we enjoyed the view overlooking the Kamo River into Gion (of Memoirs of a Geisha fame).
After dinner, on to Club World where we had the NYC club hook-up and were guest-listed to here one of Japan's hottest house DJs, DJ Emma. The club was small, but the sound system was slamming! DJ Kiji opened up and got the crowd worked into a frenzy, by the time Emma took the stage around 1:30 am. It was some of the best club music we've heard in a long time. Expertly mixed, with a constant build of energy. Great lights, great video and laser displays. It was the total package - a fantastic show. Thanks Anthony Lamont in NYC and Akiko in Tokyo for setting us up. Our legs were SO sore today from dancing. (Sue's OCD commentary about the club - it was the CLEANEST club I have ever seen. I even sat on the floor at one point, and for those of you who know me ...) We were wishing our NYC friends were there to dance with us. (Ira, your head would have exploded!)
We walked home around 4:15 and the city was still bustling, with folks going home from the bars and others sleeping and peeing (yes, peeing) in full view on the street. We collapsed into our futons content and excited for our 3rd and final day in Kyoto.
xoxo, Sue and Sean
P.S. A word about the public transportation here - you can set your watch to it, and it's SO clean. In fact, today we saw a subway employee with a dust buster in the metro, sucking up we don't even know what, because it is so spotless. Great job, I am sure, with a great pension.
Japanese phrase of the day:
Shashin wo totte morae masu ka? - Will you take my picture?
2 comments:
Oh my God! Oh my God! It sounds SOOOOO AMAZING! What a beautiful, beautiful place. I've never had a yen (no pun intended) to travel to Asia - until seeing it through both of your eyes.
Love and miss you both and hugs to Andromeda - it sounds like you're just over the moon.
Kisses from NYC,
Jamielah
Jamie, you are meant to experience Japanese culture - the food and the baths in particular! I spent 2hours today in the public baths - milk bath, salt baths, collogen baths - to die! Lots of love and hugs to you. xoxoxo Sue
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