Dance of the Geisha
Today was my only full day in Kyoto, and thankfully it was a beauty. The morning sun beaming brightly I headed out just before 9 am, making a quick stop at a nearby coffee shop for an egg sandwich for breakfast. Kyoto was the city I had spent the most time in on my last visit, and I managed to hit a lot of the major sites. Thus, my plan for the morning was to see a few shrines that were a little more off the beaten path.
Miyajima, monkeys, and memories of the A-Bomb
What a day! My somewhat impulsive decision to head to Hiroshima for the day lead to my heading out the door at quarter to 8 to catch an 8:20 shinkansen. I had originally wanted to try and squeeze in two or three days in Hiroshima when I begun planning this trip, but found there really wasn’t enough time. However, the joy of having a JR pass is that you can impulsively decide to hop on a bullet train for the under 2-hour ride down south.
Transiting to Kyoto
I had ironically left Tokyo with beautiful blue skies and arrived in Kyoto to a steady drizzle. Not having any desire to wander about in the rain in search of my ryokan, I grabbed a cab. I was trying to remember the scenery, but the rain was messing with my memory. I soon reached the Capsule Ryokan Kyoto, apparently the world’s first tatami capsule. It’s run by the same folks who own the Tour Club, where I stayed last time. I was shown to my capsule, a top “bunk”, but nicely outfitted with a little TV, outlets and LAN.
Shrinetastic
We eventually rolled into the Tobu Nikko train station just before 9:30 am. In the interest of not wearing myself out before the day had even started, I opted to just grab a taxi for the 6 minute drive to the Turtle Inn. I left my luggage, and my kindly hostess outlined the various highlights on a map for me, including pointing out where various convenience stores and post offices were which is handy. Map in hand, I pared down to just my tiny purse and camera and headed off to the shrines.
Soaking away in bubbling bliss
The sun was just peeking out as I headed into the station bound for the National Art Center. I chanced upon an add advertising a new exhibition opening today on Van Gogh, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I don’t foresee my going to Amsterdam in the next little while, so this would certainly tide me over until then. Bit of a pricier fee then the other museums I’d been to at $12, but I was soon making my way through this soaring building of metal and glass and bizarre floating concrete cones.
Art. Art. Art. More Art. (Tokyo edition)
After a soggy walk through the relatively peaceful, paved pathways, I reached the National Museum of Western Art. I know, it does seem odd to be going to see a Western art museum when in Japan; however, I did see one of the best Salvador Dali exhibits I’ve been to the last time I was in Japan. It was a remarkably low entrance fee (not even $2), and I was soon making my way through the collection. There is some sensation that I just love when walking through most museums, which I could probably liken to a similar sensation in cathedrals and even libraries.
Sunshine and rainbows (bridge)
P-Day! So today was ultimately the impetus for my being here. Despite my enjoying taking the opportunity to toodle around Japan for a little bit, this trip was really about presenting my poster at Interspeech. I’d fallen asleep before I could do a practice run last evening, but I was up, as usual, around 5 am, which gave me plenty of opportunity to run through my poster and go over my notes.
A rainy day in Sunshine City
Alas, 6am yet again for me, but it did give me a good opportunity to chat with D in Chicago as I got ready for the day. Unfortunately, the rain had not abated since yesterday, but I was determined to brave the inclement weather. On the docket for the morning was Ikebukuro—I’d read something about food theme parks in Namjatown, and I’m always game for investigating such things. Umbrella in hand, I made the walk down to Ueno Station, popping into a bakery there for a quick breakfast of croissants and a donut. I hopped onto a JR local train bound for Ikebukuro, about a 15 minute ride away.
Soggy start to Interspeech
It was another early morning, as my body seems convinced that 6 am is a perfectly acceptable wake-up time. The early hour did work out well for chatting with family on the other continent, so I was able to catch up during my morning surfage. Due to my lack of dinner last evening, I was fabulously hungry, so I popped down to the front desk and invested in a quality breakfast snack–Pocky!
Beating heart of the city
My itinerary was somewhat loose, as I only had a few specific sights I wanted to hit. A quick spot of yogurt for breakfast and I was off. The Oak Hotel is conveniently located just half a block from a subway stop. I negotiated the ticket dispensing system, deciding on a not-so-cheap day pass for ¥1000, before hopping on the Ginza line bound for Shibuya. The quiet humming through the crisp white-tiled stations was a welcome change from the grungier, rickety El in Chicago.
Winging my way to Tokyo
It was with a mixture of excitement and sadness that I headed off to O’Hare airport. While I was eager for a chance to visit Japan again, it would also mark the beginning of a six-week separation from my husband. D was kind enough to go with me 3 stops over to catch the Pace bus that goes all the way to the airport. While it is possible to take the El all the way, it would have required going south all the way downtown, changing lines and then going back northwest to the airport.