Kyoto Botanical Gardens

No real story to tell.... Except perhaps my dress was far too short for cycling which led to me hopping on one foot, attempting to put leggings on in the middle of the street. Of course, no-one saw me (*everyone pretended they couldn't see me).

I just wanted to share some of the beautiful things in Kyoto Botanial Gardens. The city is getting really autumnal now and the leaves are changing to glorious colours yet there are still so many flowers!

This last picture reminds me of the New Forest.....

Around the World in Half a Day

3rd November is yet another National Holiday in Japan. They have about 12 a year, more than most countries, and my theory is that it's because of their insane work ethic which leaves many people, some of my friends included, working 17 hours a day in Tokyo.

What to do with a holiday? Well, the answer was EAT.

Kyoto International Community Foundation is a large organisation not far from where I live and it's where I've just start taking Japanese lessons (for free!) They were holding an open day, promising food and entertainment from around the world. Well, we didn't get much past the food to be honest.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again: food from stalls is never as good as it looks. I decided to visit Germany which was perhaps a mistake in itself, given my recollections of German food. However, they promised good quality looking sausages and potato salad. How could I resist? The two sausages in the picture were quite small but they looked so tasty and potato salad....mmm......

NOT. Firstly, when I went to buy the plate advertised for 400 円 they charged me an extra 100 円 for a second sausage. I believe that's called false advertising, and I believe it's illegal in the UK. Next, when I examined my potato salad, it looked very strange indeed. It didn't appear to have any potatoes in it. Nor did it seem to be covered in mayonnaise. Instead, I got some doughy pasta balls mixed in with sauerkraut. Not impressed.

Instead, we spent 25 minute queuing for a delicious mutton kebab which was sized for hungry two year-olds.

It was only later that we discovered more food stalls and some delicious looking burgers at Tom's Burger Bar. But hang on...Tom's Burger Bar rings a bell.......I realised I was looking at Tom of Tom's Burger Bar and Tom's English School which I'd applied to the day before! I even wrote that should I not be the teacher he was looking for, I'd stop by and try what he promised were the best burgers in Kyoto. And here he was......packing up his stand! He looked pretty busy so I didn't stop to say "Hello, I applied for your job yesterday, and actually I'm really gutted that your burgers have sold out as I just ate some German mush." (*Tom actually emailed me the day after the fair and now I work for his English school!!)

Food disappointments aside, the open day had a wonderfully lively atmosphere and was packed full of people, and mega cute kids (Japanese kids seem so much cuter than British kids!) Check out Calle's photos of the varieties of human life:

(Yes of course it makes perfect sense to have a Japanese man dressed as Santa, playing some kind of Asian instrument, in EARLY NOVEMBER).

Needless to say, we were still hungry and we decided to cycle down to Yamashina station area to do some shopping and take tea at the cake palace, mentioned in this previous post here. You can see more amazing photos of probably the weirdest café in the world and read the review on my brand new blog.

Cultural Affairs

Last week saw us on a bold and brave quest. After salivating over the delicious burgers we'd eaten one time at J.S. Burgers near Shinjuku Gyoen (park), Calle and I were in search of the best burger in Kyoto. We needed a slice, or in my case, a large plateful of Western food after staring at stir-fries and noodles for far too long.

After Internet-trawling, we found a recommended place called Speak Easy in the north of Kyoto, but only ~1.5km away from Kyoto University's main campus. It was gorgeous day and so Calle and I set off, accompanied by James and Victor, his classmates (it made it two all for the Brits v Swedes).

Nearly an hour later, we were wondering why we had failed to cover 1.5km. To this day, I am still fairly confused as to how that happened.

Let me set the scene. It's hot. There is no shade. We're almost too late for lunch time. The turning is still not in sight. I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. I'm tired. I see Obama. And a friendly pet shop.

Eventually we find Speak Easy. It looks small, brown, shabby and.... closed. On Thursdays only. Hurrah. Cue awful meal at a coffee cafeteria place. Sigh.

Nevertheless, on Friday night, I decided it was time we hit the town. The crew plus Marco, our Italian neighbour, settled ourselves into an izakaya which had delicious food at really amazing prices....even if the food pictures on the menu didn't exactly look like what was brought to us. When they say stir-fry containing cow, apparently it means any part of the cow they fancy. That didn't go down so well.

The evening ended with another desperate grasp for western food. Sadly Baskin-Robbins isn't a patch on Haagen Dazs but the guys enjoyed it!

Having been failed so utterly in our western outreach program, the weekend was a time for Japan, Japan, Japan. Heading south in the city, we stopped by Tofukuji, a Zen Buddhist temple complex which dates from 1236 but has naturally been rebuilt many times since. Slightly underwhelming, Lonely Planet sold it to us as a beauty with an amazing moss-covered garden with chessboard squares. How they should have described it was "Think Zen spartanism and minimalism combined with stone and moss." Still, I did manage to take a trippy picture of the "wonderful" chessboard garden....

And I got to be Mistress of the Torii (stone gate):

Next we headed straight to Fushimi-Inari Taisha lunch. I was starving. And I found my hamburger. Japanese-style. You can tell that because it got served on a bed of spaghetti, with a creamy brown and mushroom sauce, fried pork, Caesar salad, rice, and cream of sweetcorn soup. It was delicious. You can check out my review on my all new food blog.

Next, we really did make it to Fushimi-Inari Taisha, a truly amazing shrine with torii (big orange gates) that stretch 4km up the mountain, with cemeteries stretching out into the woods. The torii are packed so closely together that it's like walking through a tunnel in places. It was a lovely experience even if we did decide to take the narrow forest path back which did take us down, just that "down" can mean down on any side of the mountain. Oh and it was pouring with rain. Not the best time to get lost.

Check these photos to get a feel for the place. It really is worth a visit if you're ever in Kyoto (I've actually been there twice now!)

Couldn't resist the token shot of the spider. Although I spent ages trying to make my camera focus on him. And then Calle pointed out - he is a crippled spider. Why did I choose a spider with only 7 legs?!