Krystal's Whirlwind Visit to My Japan - Part 1

It's still been less than a week since Krystal arrived in Japan, but we've been so busy that it feels like longer. She's seen SO much and is already comfortable venturing out on her own while I'm at work (the new school year started this week). I almost feel like I'm on vacation in Japan, too, though we've been doing so much sightseeing. It's really nice to have a girlfriend from home, here, though. The fact that it feels really normal also makes me think the transition back to my home culture ain't gonna be so bad this summer :-p I'm just going to miss Japan - a lot...

So on Friday night, everything went pretty well with Krystal catching the airport bus from KIX to Kobe on her own. I met her at the bus stop across from Sannomiya Station around 10 and we took the train back to my house. We probably didn't get back until 11:30 and understandably were in bed not long after.

It usually doesn't feel like jetlag at all for people coming east for the first time, but Krystal was up at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning (about 5am), totally awake and ready to go, as expected. I got up a bit later - although still early for me - and we spent a few hours having breakfast, chatting looking at maps of where I live, etc, before we finally made it out the door and on a train to Himeji (for the annual Himeji Hanami / flower viewing party). My friend Matt had arrived early with the tarps. In most years, you need to arrive hours before the official Hanami event (hosted by Himeji city) begins to secure space on the large lawn-area in front of the castle, especially since our party usually consists of around 40-70 foreigners spanned across several large tarps. Probably due to the terrible weather forecast, however, we arrived to find Matt sitting completely alone on the new, shiny big green tarp we had bought for the party :-( Better yet, when the rain started coming down, the other people packed up and left so we were pretty much the only tarp on the lawn for the most of the day.

More people eventually came, anyways, and we sort of stood around for a while chatting with them, then going into the Japanese Tea Cermony tent to try real matcha (powdered green tea) and Japanese sweets (my kids were helping serve!), heading to the beverage tents to try interesting variations of true Japanese sake (straight from the barrels - the sakura flavored one was the best) and finally visiting the adjacent zoo.

We had plans to meet friends in Kobe later that night and were going to sit out all day it was time to go, but we were getting so wet by the middle of the day that we decided it was time to just tour the castle and move on.

It's been quite a while since I've actually been inside the Himeji Castle, and I was really impressed with how beautiful the sakura were during the day (had previously only seen them at night). The trees inside the castle walls seemed to have bloomed much more than the trees on the lawn and looked almost succulent against all the white castle wall backdrop.

I was also surprised to find that they've renovated or changed parts of the inside, too. The toilet area was open, they have now opened the princess's quarters (and added tatami!) and the route is different than it was on my prior tours (although this could have been a one-day thing because of the large number of hanami visitors). It was sort of fun to give Krystal a little tour, too, though... telling her stories about the kitchen girl that was drowned in the castle well and haunts the castle (people say you can hear her counting plates) and some of the stories behind props on display and architecture inside the main tower (mostly stuff that I've picked up from people in the area).

After the castle, we headed to the station (wearing ballerina flats was a bad idea - my socks were drenched and feet got blistered - OUCH - so it was a very hasty... and somewhat akward... retreat) but we did make one more little stop on the way to Kobe. We got off a train stop early to see the wharf and Meriken Park, which is the memorial for the damage caused by the Great Hanshin Earthquake (that destroyed Kobe in 1995). It was a cloudy day so you couldn't see the whole harbor that well, but it was still a beautiful scene :)

When we made it to the center of town, Dave, Chris and Emi had already gotten reservations at the kushi katsu place, a joint where you deep-fry your own food at the table. Dinner was pretty delicious and the two hours of karaoke (with Bob, Katie & their friends from America, too!) was a lot of fun.

Saturday wasn't the earliest night, but I woke up in pretty rough shape on Sunday morning and almost had to change plans for the day. It's a little embarassing, but I had accidentally taken a pretty big gulp from a cup that I thought was water - and was actually clear liquor - right before bed on Saturday night and spent about 3 hours on the couch in the middle of the night, trying to resist the urge to run to the bathroom and loose my stomach. Not a good mix with fried food and it wasn't very pleasant, but I finally fell back asleep and felt better when I got up. Good thing because we went hiking for most of the day!

This was maybe the 6th time I've done the hike over Rokko Mountain to Arima Onsen, but Emi wasn't feeling well so she and Chris backed out in the morning and it was honestly a little strange doing it without Chris leading the way for the first time. Dave, Krystal and I made it, though, and had a lot of fun hiking the hills for the morning. I probabaly should have been more realistic about how strenious the trail can be (Krystal was expecting an easy path, but the trekk takes 5-6 hours and there are some pretty steep bits), but I was really glad Krystal got to see the views of Kobe, Osaka and the bay from the top of the mountain... and at least it wasn't raining!

When we finally made it to our destination, Arima Onsen (a famous hotspring town over the mountains from Kobe), we headed straight for the normal hotspring that we finish each hike at. Krystal was a lot more comfortable than I expected about the concept of public bathing (we go naked in Japan!) and it was personally one of the best parts of the day just being able to soak and relax the muscles for a while.

After about an hour, we met Dave in the lobby of the hotel (baths are sex-segregated so we had split up) and walked down through the charming town to the Arima train station. My friend Claire and I also visited Arima when she came to visit, and the town had really reminded her of a Swiss ski village. I think Krystal liked it equally as much, so it was nice to see some scenery, too, before we caught a ride back to central Kobe via the Kintetsu and Subway lines.

Once back in Sannomiya, Dave and I decided to introduce Krystal to izakayas, traditional Japanese pubs, and went to not one - but TWO - of the 280yen places before all heading back home. Fun night, but I'm pretty sure we were good with only going to the first place and could have gone home then... gotta stop leaving places too full to move!! If only the mochi cheese cakes weren't so good!

I had to work at Harinan, my second high school, on Monday morning so Krystal hung around my house for a while in the morning and then we took a field trip to the train station to get her JR Pass stamped. Our school year starts this week so I pretty much have to be at work during the day (lots of planning and especially ceremonies... more on those soon) and Krystal has been awesome about venturing out and exploring on her own. I wish I could show her around, but considering she doesn't know the language (and we use a different alphabet here), I'm pretty impressed with how she hit the ground running and how much ground she's actually covered... on her own!

Monday is a great example of that actually. After we got the pass stamped (and ran into Bob & his guests), I headed back to work and Krystal went the opposite direction, to the old capital city of Kyoto. I gave her a map and some direction/advice on what to see, but she made it all over (Golden Pavilian, Philosopher's Path, Silver Pavilian) before meeting me at the Heian Shrine. Not bad.

I had come to Kyoto after work so it was already starting to get a bit dark out and we decided to head to Kiyomizu-dera, which is open a bit later than the other temples, to see the sunset and famous sakura (cherry blossoms) in the area. We definitely weren't alone in that plan - or in sightseeing in general, however - and we watched packed bus after packed bus drive by (some wouldn't even pick anyone up at the bus stop because there was no room!) before deciding we should just grab a cab. The car ride to Kiyomizu was about $10 and traffic was bad, but at least we got dropped off at the top of the hill. Unfortunately, the temple had just stopped letting people in when we arrived (30 minutes before closing), but they are doing special yozakura (nightime cherry blossom viewing) hours at the moment, so we decided to stick around an hour until the temple re-opened. It was probably a good idea we did because the time gave us a chance to look in the cute little tourist shops, sample some of the local treats (like big Chinese dumplings and sesame rice patties) & explore some of the more quiet allyways also lined with hanging sakura. It was so beautiful!

So when we left the temple to explore, there was already a line forming for the night viewing, but we got in right away when we came back aroun 6:40. Now, I have to say I've been to Kiyomizu a few times - 13 to be exact - but I was totally blown away when we walked into the lantern-lit temple complex. I've seen the place at night before (in the fall), during the snow, with cherry blossoms (during the day), during the rain and during the summer... but seeing it at sunset blanketed with scores of beautiful, blooming cherry blossoms was definitely a treat.

We explored the temple for a while, got our fortunes (which were both "the next to best") and took the obligatory sips from the Otowa waterfall that contains the famous healing /theraputic water. Don't ask me how I didn't know this before now, but I just learned that some people believe that the three streams that you drink from confer wisdom, health and longevity. You can drink from two streams, but if you are greedy and drink from all three (and there's no way to tell which is which), you'll actually bring bad fortune upon yourself.

I also learned that the popular Japanese expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression "to take the plunge". The stage is actually the huge balcony/veranda that overlooks the city, but it's kind of a cool tidbit of random info.

Anyways... after Kiyomizu, Krystal and I wandered down the sidestreets, stopping at Kodai-ji to see the yozakura there and try takoyaki (octopus balls) before getting to Maruyamakoen to see the most famous sakura tree in all of Kyoto.
We spent a little time at the park, which was PACKED with people picnicing under the trees, checked out Yasaka Shrine and then wandered towards Gion.

Luckily, we saw three Geisha (or Maiko-san, the more elegantly dressed apprentice Geisha, actually) down a famous Gion street called Pontocho before deciding it was getting late and we needed to get home. It was past midnight by the time we got back to my station and started the 25 minute walk to my house, but overall, I'd say it was more than worth the trip for such an awesome evening!!

The next day, Tuesday, was sort of similar. Krystal went to explore Nara, the ancient capital, while I went to work and I met her in Osaka in the evening. I arrived earlier than expected, so I took a stroll through Osaka Castle Park to see the 4,500 cherry blossom trees and sunset there before meeting Dave and Krystal in Umeda.

We grabbed okonomiyaki for dinner at this really good restaurant Dave knew about in the Yodobashi Camera building and then went to Shinsaibashi to show Krystal the lights and check out a bar before we all went home.

It was another past-midnight walk home from the eki and I was pretty tired the next morning, but we had fun.

So, yeah.... busy! The last two days have basically school stuff, though. Krystal came to our opening ceremony on Wednesday morning. My coworker was really cute and bought her a bento, box lunch, but she was pretty fried from all the running around so she went home to take a nap in the morning and I went to the ceremony for the first years in the afternoon before coming home and crashing myself. In the evening, we went to the 100 yen shop and Sushiro, a conveyer belt sushi restaurant near my house, for dinner. I somehow got short-changed at the 100 yen shop around $40, so there was some drama when I went to pay for dinner and had no money, but otherwise, it was nice to have a quieter night (or at least one closer to home!). After chatting and relaxing with wine, Krystal and I went to bed. Today has been more ceremonies, one to introduce the new students to the 2nd and 3rd years, one for just staff where the transferred teachers come back and give speeches, and then a third where the old/transferred teachers say goodbye to the students and the new teachers are introduced.

Tonight is also 0ur hello/goodbye party/ceremony for all the new and departing staff members, but Krystal is in Tokyo for the day (yes, the day!) and will be in Hiroshima tomorrow, so it's at least a good time to be busy while she's gone.

This post is MASSIVE and I have even more I could share so I'll stop now... but we've got some fun stuff up our sleeves for the weekend so more coming soon!! The weather is absolutely georgous out (sunny and above 70 degrees) and the cheery blossoms are everywhere and in full-bloom so I think I need to get outside anyways.

Hope you are all well... and more to share once we slow down enough for me to write again!